Alexander Zverev had an interesting weekend in Italy that ended with winning the ATP World Tour Singles title for the second time.
Zverev defeated world number two and then defending champion, Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-4 to claim the season-ending title. This was a day after beating world number one, Novak Djokovic at the semi-finals. In 2018, Zverev defeated Djokovic at the finals to win the ATP Finals title, his first major title.
With his recent feat, Zverev has now become the fourth man in the history of the ATP Finals to beat the two top-ranked players in the semi-finals and the finals. The last time it happened was in 1990 – before the 24-year-old was even born.
Zverev’s victory came after losing to Medvedev five times. The last time he won was at the ATP Finals in 2019. Just last week, Zverev also suffered a three-set loss in the hands of the Russian in the Round Robin stage of the ATP Finals. But Zverev was at his best when they met again on Sunday, as he won 83% of his first-serve points.
The German is ending the year on a very high note, with six titles in his possession, including the Olympic gold. Although he is still yet to win a Grand Slam title, he has continued to prove that he has what it takes to be amongst the best. Ending the year as ranked number three is quite an improvement as he was ranked number six at the end of last season tour.
But he is not about to rest on that. Speaking after his victory on Sunday, Zverev noted that he was already looking forward to 2022, when he would, hopefully, win his first Grand Slam title, as that is the only thing missing from his records now.
Written by: Leon Osamor