ATP Finals: The Olympic champion is also world champion - "A great, fantastic feeling"
With his triumph at the ATP Finals in Turin, Alexander Zverev made a powerful closing statement at the end of an exhausting season.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Nov 21, 2021, 08:32 pm
What spoke against Alexander Zverev on this last big tennis day in 2021? He had lost the last five games against the difficult Daniil Medvedev, including in the preliminary round of this championship in Turin last Tuesday. He was on the pitch until shortly before midnight in the semifinals against Novak Djokovic on Saturday, after a battle of attrition in the semifinals against the number one in the world, the night was pretty short for the German Olympic champion, at least much shorter than for his opponent Medvedev.
But when it was all or nothing for Zverev in the final of the ATP World Cup on Sunday afternoon, there was not the slightest trace of the bad omen of the past permanent failure or possible fatigue: With a masterly strategy and amazing consistency at the highest level, Zverev rushed to his second title in the season finale of the eight best. Hard to believe, but true: Against Medvedev, the defending champion, the 24-year-old from Hamburg hardly ever got in serious danger in his sparkling 6: 4, -6: 4 triumph. "It's an unbelievable moment, a great, fantastic feeling," said Zverev after the recent, almost perfect-looking moment on a large center court, in which he did not have to fend off a single breakball. The win in 2021 followed the script of the year 2018: At that time, Zverev had lost in the preliminary round to Djokovic and took revenge against the Serbs in the final, now he succeeded in this feat against Medvedev congruently.
Six finals, six wins
Zverev's last powerful word in the 2021 season had even more weight than his successful appearance as a gold prospector in Tokyo in the summer. Because on the home stretch of the elite tournament, Zverev had to defeat the two nominally best players on the planet with frontman Djokovic and Medvedev, who is considered to be crown prince, on two consecutive days he trumped number 1 and number 2 at the end of this brutally draining series Victory in the 74th game, the man from Hamburg also showed remarkable standing qualities, wrote the best individual record of a professional in the work certificate of the tour for 2021. "This season has confirmed that Sascha has become a co-determining force in world tennis," noted former national coach Patrik Kühnen, "he has matured into a complete player who shows his best tennis when it has to."
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Above all, three years after his London World Cup surprise coup, Zverev has become a man who calmly and naturally plays a leading role in almost every major event. And not always, but often crosses the finish line as a trophy hero. He was six times in a final in 2021, and six times he won the last duel. The weakness in the top tournaments, also in the big points in the important duels, has given way, Zverev is a power factor on the world stage of his sport. In 2022 he can even tackle the top of the world rankings, he is on par with Djokovic and Medvedev, the only two players who are still ahead of him.
The giant was also wide awake and focused in the fight against Medvedev, which had been something of his personal nightmare for the past year and a half. With the break to 2: 1 in the first set, after only five minutes, Zverev set the tone in this match, took control with a powerful, risky and never completely predictable game. Zverev had learned decisively from the previous defeats against the 25-year-old Muscovite: He did not get involved in endless rallies on the baseline, went aggressively away from the return and into an exchange of blows. But even when things got longer, the German often got the upper hand - it seemed as if Zverev had simply forgotten the hardships of the last few days and especially the substance-stealing maloche from the marathon against Djokovic on Saturday.
"An absolute masterpiece by Sascha"
After a good half an hour, Zverev had ticked the first sentence 6: 4 for himself. And even after this important lead he did not allow himself the slightest drop in tension, in the first game of the second set he got another break and let the Russian run after him again. With precise serves on the fast hall floor of the Pala Alpitour, but also the otherwise very variable game, Zverev kept the US Open champion at a distance - Medvedev actually had no real chance against the extremely focused, self-confident Olympic champion. "An absolute masterpiece by Sascha" stated Britain's former top man Greg Rusedski as a TV observer.
At 5: 4, Zverev served to win the match, to win the world championship. And where he had once received the heavy, shaky hand on another occasion, now there was no fluttering of nerves to be seen. Zverev brought his victory home with a serenity and strength that was simply impressive. The ace to the second championship with the second serve really put the crown on the German's bravura number.
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