ATP Masters Cincinnati: Alexander Zverev - curse ended, now comes the run
Alexander Zverev goes to work in Cincinnati with great self-confidence. The German was able to end the Ohio curse in an impressive manner, but Zverev is currently swimming on the wave of success.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Aug 20, 2021, 06:12 pm
There are currently appearances that are strongly reminiscent of the big three dominators of tennis in recent years that have conjured up Alexander Zverev on the hardcourts of Tokyo and Cincinnati. An almost insurmountable serve strength, but also extremely dangerous from the baseline: Yes, the native of Hamburg is unlikely to go through as a preferred opponent for very few players on this planet at the moment.
A not insignificant part of this is of course the self-confidence fueled by the sensational gold run at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which Zverev literally exudes on the pitch every minute. "It's great. When I came on the pitch and they introduced me as a gold medalist, I got goosebumps," said the 24-year-old about Lloyd Harris after his opening success.
Zverev has its sights set on the US Open Coup
The South African was considered a difficult start, but could not be dangerous to Zverev any more than Guido Pella, whom the German literally shot off the field in the third round. The world number five has been without defeat for eight matches. And Zverev makes no move to let this series end too quickly.
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The ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati applies, in which the 24-year-old had no win in no less than six attempts, admittedly only as a stage goal, in a sense as a preparatory tournament for what is to come. Namely the US Open, where the Hamburg native is about much more than his first Grand Slam title.
Zverev against the ghosts
For the Germans in Flushing Meadows, the aim is to finally drive away the ghosts of last year, once and for all finished with what has happened. At the time, there were two points that should separate Sascha Zverev from his first triumph at major level, the German had already given up a 2-0 set lead in the final against Dominic Thiem.
A defeat that would have followed the fifth in the world for a long time, as Zverev emphasized on several occasions. Not a day would have gone by without thinking about this one match. But now the native of Hamburg is heading towards revenge in New York City under completely different circumstances. The shape is right, the curse of Cincinnati is history. Now is the time for a run. The best, of course, is a Grand Slam run.