Mar 26, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Alexander Zverev (GER) acknowledges the fans while leaving the court after his match against Arthur Fils (FRA)(not pictured) on day nine of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.

tennis

Alexander Zverev’s Torrid Times Continue as Matteo Berrettini Marches On at ATP Monte Carlo Masters 2025

Jannik Sinner will remain World No. 1 upon his return.

Top seed Alexander Zverev crashed out of the 2025 Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday. It was Italian powerhouse Matteo Berrettini’s turn to upset the German World No. 2 on this occasion, as he pulled off an incredible 2-6 6-3 7-5 win on Court Rainier III. Zverev’s loss means that Jannik Sinner will continue to be the ATP’s No. 1 ranked player, when he returns next month.

Zverev has now won a mere six matches in six tournaments since Jannik Sinner beat him in the Australian Open final. Despite the Italian serving a temporary suspension, Sascha has failed to capitalise on his opportunity to ascend the throne – he has not beaten a single seeded player since reaching the final in Melbourne Park.

Matteo Berrettini Locks Horns With Alexander Zverev in Monte Carlo Marathon

Cheered on by the passionate crowd at the Principality, Berrettini overcame an early slump to pull off his biggest career win in terms of ranking. It was the German who took charge of the encounter early on, powering through to grab the opener 6-2. He tested Berrettini’s defence with some scintillating down the line shots, and his 28-year-old counterpart had no answers.

As the match went on, the former Wimbledon finalist began moving much better on court. He also protected his service games comfortably, and broke Zverev in the sixth game to go up 4-2. The raucous Monte Carlo fans pushed him with every point he was winning, which led to a 6-3 result and a deciding set to follow.

Berrettini Wins Epic 48-Shot Rally En Route to Round of 16 Entry

Serving for the match at 5-4 in the final set, Berrettini succumbed to pressure with an unforced error into the net. As Zverev gave a determined fist pump and looked at his team, a change of momentum was imminent. It was at 5-5 40/40 that the Italian won a potential point of the year contender – the players rallied for 48 shots and shoved each other from corner to corner – culminating in both of them gasping for breath at the end of it.

So engaging 🤯

A 48-shot rally in Berrettini vs Zverev!#RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/65evapiy7R
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 8, 2025

Breaking the reigning Australian Open and Roland Garros runner-up to serve for the match at 6-5, ‘Marvellous Matteo’ did not make any mistake. He closed out the match after nearly two and a half hours of back and forth action. “The game plan was the same but I changed my attitude and the way I was believing in my strokes,” said Berrettini after reaching just his second Round of 16 at the Monaco-based event.

Matteo Berrettini now awaits the winner of Lorenzo Musetti vs Jiri Lehecka in the Monte Carlo Third Round.

Alexander Zverev

ATP

ATP Masters 1000

Jannik Sinner

Matteo Berrettini

Monte Carlo Masters

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.