Turin, Italy: Alexander Zverev captured his second ATP Finals title after producing a brilliant performance to defeat world number two Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday’s final in Turin.
Zverev, the Olympic singles gold medallist in Tokyo, won his tour-leading sixth trophy of the season and ended a run of five straight losses to defending champion Medvedev.
The German third seed broke once in each set as he swept US Open winner Medvedev aside in 75 minutes to add to the season-ending crown he won in 2018. “It was great, I won the ATP Finals against someone I’d lost to five times in a row so I had to play one of my best matches,” said Zverev.
“I’m happy with that and ready to go on holidays with this win now.”
Zverev will skip the Davis Cup finals to be played in Madrid, Turin and Innsbruck from November 25 to December 5.
“There’s no better way to end the season than winning here so obviously I’m incredibly happy. But I’m now very much looking forward to next year already,” he said.
“It’s very special, I’m super thrilled and super happy right now.”
An event this year missing both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the ATP Finals have proved the breakout stage for tennis’ new generation with the Grand Slams still largely beyond their reach.
This first final since the tournament’s relocation from London was also the first to feature two players aged 25 or younger since 2005.
Zverev, conqueror of top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s semi-finals, landed the first blow against Medvedev by breaking for a 2-1 lead in the first set. — AFP
