Historically there have been plenty of matches that have gone down to the wire but this year’s Madrid Open has set a new benchmark.
On Tuesday evening China’s Zhang Zhizhen saved three match points before edging out Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(8). Incredibly the 26-year-old has now won three consecutive matches in Madrid by prevailing in a final set tiebreaker. Overall, he has played seven tiebreakers at the tournament so far this year and has won six of them.
“I think here the altitude is helping me for the serve because big serves are helping me to hold the service game. That’s why there are so many tiebreaks I played.” Zhang said following his latest match.
“Even if I couldn’t break the guy, I still won the match because I’m holding my service game into the tiebreak. In a tiebreak, nobody knows what’s going on. (It’s) just a few points difference.”
Zhang isn’t the only player to prevail in a final set tiebreaker at the Caja Magica. Stefanos Tsitsipas did so against Dominic Thiem, Dusan Lajovic edged his way past Felix Auger-Aliassime and Borna Coric did so in his fourth round clash against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Overall, there have been 11 final-set tiebreakers played at the Madrid Open so far with seven matches still to play. The tally is a new record for a Masters 1000 event. Previously Indian Wells held the record with 10 being played there in 2014 and 2018.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Madrid is 646 meters above sea level. This is considerably higher than both Paris and Rome which are less than 50 meters above sea level. In theory, the higher the altitude is the faster the ball travels during tennis rallies and therefore it benefits the big servers.
This is one explanation as to why some matches in the tournament have been so close but there are also other factors to take into account such as the individual performances of the player. Perhaps, the high number of tiebreaks might just be a coincidence. Compared to the women’s tournament, only three matches have been decided by a final-set tiebreak in their draw so far.
List of matches decided by a final set (men only)
FIRST ROUND
Matteo Arnaldi ITA def Benoit Paire FRA 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (6)
Bernabe Zapata Miralles ESP def Mackenzie McDonald USA 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Stan Wawrinka SUI def Maxime Cressy USA 6-7(3) 6-4 7-6(4)
SECOND ROUND
Zhizhen Zhang CHN def Denis Shapovalov CAN 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (1)
Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE def Dominic Thiem AUT 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5)
Dusan Lajovic SRB def Felix Auger-Aliassime CAN 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5)
Holger Rune DEN def Alexander Bublik KAZ 6-1 4-6 7-6(9)
THIRD ROUND
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ESP def Holger Rune DEN 7-6 (1), 5-7, 7-6 (5)
Zhizhen Zhang CHN def Cameron Norrie GBR 2-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2)
FOURTH ROUND
Zhizhen Zhang CHN def Taylor Fritz USA 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8)
Borna Coric CRO def Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ESP 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
