Just a week after winning the bett1HULKS Indoors in Cologne, Germany, Alexander Zverev has won the bett1HULKS Championship, another ATP event held in Cologne.
Zverev squared off at the finals against Diego Schwartzman and won the match by two sets, 6-2 6-1. Sunday’s win was his 13th ATP singles title and also his eighth straight win. It was also his fourth time winning in his home country of Germany.
On Sunday, Zverev needed just 71 minutes to claim victory. He and Schwartzman were tied at 2-2 before winning four straight games to rise to 6 and win the round. The second round proved to be a better challenge for the Argentine who found it increasingly against Zverev. Speaking after the match, Schwartzman said, “Sascha was much better. He deserved to win last week here and he was perfect on court.”
Zverev entered the events in Cologne after suffering a fourth-round loss at the French Open where he lost to Jannik Sinner. He entered the Cologne event as a top seed and was able to survive some very tough rounds to win two titles back to back.
Both events took place in the same venue, so Zverev secured two titles of his career in the same place just a week apart. But this is not the first time he is winning back to back as he did so two weeks in May and August.
The German expressed his joy at winning the event, which was his second victory of the year. He said after the match, “I know in finals you have to play your best tennis to have a chance, so obviously [I am] extremely happy with my performance. Probably the best match of the past two weeks here. Diego is someone that you can really struggle with. He is somebody who doesn’t miss from the baseline. You really have to win the match against him and I felt like that’s what I did.” He also spoke about his hip problem which he faced earlier in the week, which would have prevented him from playing at the event; “It’s getting better. I’ll be back to my best form soon. I didn’t know two days ago if I could finish the tournament. I’m happy I didn’t give up.”
In another event, Ugo Humbert defeated Alex de Minaur, 6-1 7-6 (7-4) at the European Open to claim his second title of the year.
Written by: Leon Osamor
