Madrid Masters: Alexander Zverev makes up ground on Novak Djokovic with win over Matteo Berrettini

Zverev defeated three top-10 stars including defending champion Rafael Nadal on his way to the title in Madrid

Alexander Zverev closed in on Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the ATP Race to Turin after capturing his second ATP Mutua Madrid Open title on Sunday with a three set win over Matteo Berrettini.

Zverev lost the first set in the tie-breaker despite holding set point but did not let that hamper him as he claimed three service breaks in the next two sets to wrap up a memorable win. The German had already scalped two other top-10 stars – five time champ Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem – on the way to the final.

"It is great [to win this title], especially after losing my last three finals I played at Masters 1000 events," Zverev said in his post-match interview, as quoted on the ATP Tour website. "This is definitely special and I just want to enjoy this one."

The world No.6's win in Madrid was his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title and it has moved Zverev closer to Djokovic and Medvedev in the ATP Race to Turin. The German star is now ranked fifth just under 200 points behind the Serbian in third, while Stefanos Tsitsipas leads the way.

Zverev will next travel to Rome for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia where he will compete as the sixth seed. Djokovic leads the field while Nadal occupies the No.2 spot despite again falling behind Medvedev in the ATP singles rankings.

The 2018 Nitto ATP Finals winner hopes he can carry the momentum from Madrid into the tournament in Rome, while also focusing on the French Open which follows the event in Italy. Zverev is a former winner in Italy but will have to contend against former champions Djokovic and Nadal once again if he wants to make it five Masters 1000 titles.

"Rome is also an event I like and enjoy, so I hope I can perform [in] the same way as I did here and we will see how it goes there. I feel awesome," Zverev said.

"I just won a Masters. It's my fourth one. I'm happy with that. That's for me one of the most important things right now," he added. "Obviously I want to be happy for about 30 seconds, then obviously Rome is next. There [are] still big tournaments coming up."