TURIN (AFP) - 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 (Nov 21) 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. The Russian avoided further damage by saving another break point in game five but Zverev barely gave Medvedev a sniff, winning 20 of 25 points on serve to take the opener. Zverev broke again at the start of the second set and held serve throughout, not offering a single break point and sealing victory with an ace out wide to avenge his round-robin loss to Medvedev. An ATP-best 59th match win of the season made Zverev the fourth player in tournament history to earn semi-final and final victories over the top-two ranked players, and first since Andre Agassi in 1990. Medvedev fell short in his bid to become the first player to retain the title since Djokovic won it four times in a row between 2012 and 2015. More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Zverev ends Djokovic's record bid to reach ATP Finals showpiece Related Story Olympics: Alexander Zverev wins first tennis men's singles gold for Germany "It's been a great season. It's not easy to get to the Masters final and for myself I was really happy to be here," said Medvedev. "Hopefully I'm going to be a part of many of these tournaments and can try to win one more time."
VIENNA (AFP) - Frances Tiafoe hit back from 3-0 down in the final set to shock top seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the Vienna ATP quarter-finals on Thursday (Oct 28). Tiafoe, 49 in the world, now boasts a 2-1 head-to-head record over third-ranked Tsitsipas after coming out on top at Wimbledon before the Greek star gained revenge at the Tokyo Olympics. The 23-year-old Tiafoe will next play eighth seed Diego Schwartzman, who defeated Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-2. "For me it was an important match. The only bad part is I cannot see Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow with Lionel Messi in France. I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Schwartzman said in his post-match interview, referring to reaching the French capital ahead of next week's Paris Masters. German second seed Alexander Zverev earned his 300th tour-level win by seeing off Alex de Minaur 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to also reach the quarter-finals. "This is definitely a massive milestone for me," Zverev said after firing 17 aces past the Australian. More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Raducanu turns on charm offensive Related Story Tennis: Just a matter of time before I break through, says Murray
NEW YORK (AFP) - Tokyo Olympic champions Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic advanced to the US Open quarter-finals on Monday (Sept 6) with straight-set triumphs. German fourth seed Zverev stretched his win streak to 15 matches by beating Italian 13th seed Jannik Sinner 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) and Swiss 11th seed Bencic eliminated Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek, last year's French Open champion, 7-6 (14/12), 6-3. Zverev, last year's US Open runner-up, reached his seventh career Slam quarter-final and fourth in the past five Slams. "Was a very high-level match from the start to the end, a lot of hard hitting," Zverev said. "I'm happy to be through to the quarter-finals and we'll see where it goes." Sinner missed his chances with two set points on Zverev's serve in the 12th game of the third set and three more foiled in the tie-breaker before Zverev won when Sinner netted a forehand after two hours and 25 minutes. "That's the last few months for me," Zverev said. "Players with confidence know what to do in these situations. I'm happy to get through in straight sets." Zverev said his Olympic gold medal is with him as inspiration and to snuggle. "I cuddle with it at night," he said. "I don't have a girlfriend so the gold medal sleeps next to me. "It's with me here, a little reminder of what happened last month to give me some energy here." Zverev will next face the winner of a later match between American 22nd seed Reilly Opelka and 46th-ranked Lloyd Harris of South Africa. Swiatek beat Bencic in their only prior meeting in February's Adelaide final, but the Swiss hasn't dropped a set this week and has been broken only three times. "I've improved my game a lot," Bencic said. "I'm glad to turn it around and get through." A key was taking the last three points in a 23-minute tie-breaker. "In the tie-breaker, it's always a little bit about luck," she said. "I started the second set a little more relaxed." More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Zverev advances to fourth round after Sock retires Related Story Tennis: Zverev eyes US Open after Olympic triumph Djokovic chases Slam Early action set the stage for Novak Djokovic in the night feature, where the 34-year-old Serbian star attempts to move within three matches of completing the first men's singles calendar-year Grand Slam in 52 years. World number one Djokovic will face 99th-ranked Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old American wildcard, for a berth in the quarter-finals. Djokovic would become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to sweep all four major titles in the same year by capturing his fourth career US Open crown. He is also going for a men's singles record 21st Slam trophy, which would boost him one ahead of "Big Three" rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both absent with injuries. Djokovic is on a 20-match win streak against Americans entering his first meeting with Brooksby, who would be the lowest-ranked player to beat a top-ranked rival at the US Open since the rankings began in 1973. If Djokovic advances to the last eight, his quarter-final could be a rematch of the Wimbledon final, where he defeated Italy's Matteo Berrettini. Sixth-seeded Berrettini faces 144th-ranked German qualifier Oscar Otte in a fourth-round matchup. The Italian beat Otte in the first round at this year's French Open. Otte would be the lowest-ranked man in the US Open's last eight since 174th-ranked Jimmy Connors in 1991 and together with Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp become the first pair of qualifiers in a Slam quarter-final in the Open era (since 1968). More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Bencic serves up masterclass to reach US Open fourth round Related Story Olympics: Switzerland's Bencic beats Vondrousova to win women's tennis title Raducanu faces Rogers British 18-year-old qualifier Emma Raducanu, a 150th-ranked US Open debutante, was to face 43rd-ranked American Shelby Rogers, who ousted world number one Ashleigh Barty, for a spot against Bencic. Raducanu would be only the third qualifier into the US Open women's quarter-finals after Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in 2017 and American Barbara Gerken in 1981. Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova, the Wimbledon runner-up to Barty in July, seeks a last-eight berth against Russian 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The last women's fourth-round match has 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu, the sixth seed from Canada, facing Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari. Andreescu is 10-0 at the US Open, having skipped last year's event.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas has been reduced to a US Open punchline for extended disruptive toilet breaks during matches, with victims Alexander Zverev and Andy Murray ripping him on Tuesday (Aug 31). German fourth seed Zverev, who accused Tsitsipas of getting improper coaching during his toilet break in a match at Cincinnati, went out of his way to hurl a zinger at the Greek star after a first-round triumph. After saying top-ranked Novak Djokovic is the favourite, he warned others are playing well, saying, "Daniil is in very good form. Stefanos can play well - if he doesn't go to the moon and back for a toilet break, that will also help. I had to, I'm sorry." Britain's Murray complained about an extended Tsitsipas toilet break in a loss to him on Monday, the three-time Grand Slam-winner noting, "It has never once taken me that long to go to the toilet, ever." Murray posted a tweet on Tuesday comparing Tsitsipas' seven-minute hiatus with the brief space flight of billionaire Jeff Bezos. "Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bazos to fly into space. Interesting," Murray tweeted. Australian Nick Kyrgios brought up bathroom breaks in his loss to Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, wondering why he incurred a time violation over retrieving a towel when there were "20-minute bathroom breaks" by other players. Tsitsipas defended his breaks, saying he follows ATP rules on bathroom trips. "I'm playing by the rules and sticking to what the ATP says is fair," said Tsitsipas. "I took my clothes with me when I left the court. That's the amount of time it takes for me to change my clothes and to walk back." Zverev said that while rules permit such pauses, it's seldom taken to such extremes. "You are allowed to do that," he said. "But it's like an unwritten rule between players." Zverev wants an end to the antics, which often stop a rival's momentum. "It's happening every match. It's not normal. Against me in Cincinnati was ridiculous and now here again," Zverev said. "He's one of the best in the world at what he does. I do not believe he needs to do that... These kind of things happen at junior events... but not when you're top three in the world." 'Very magical place' And Zverev still wonders about coaching in his match. "He's gone for 10-plus minutes. His dad is texting on the phone. He comes out, and all of a sudden his tactic completely changed," Zverev said. "Either it's a very magical place he goes to, or there is communication there." Murray said he has "lost respect" for Tsitsipas and Zverev agrees. "I do believe, and Andy said it as well, there is some level of respect that everybody needs to have between players," Zverev said. "He might just go to the toilet. That's also possible. But it just happens too often, I would say." Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bazos to fly into space. Interesting. 🚽 🚀— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) August 31, 2021 More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Murray 'lost respect' for Tsitsipas over delay 'nonsense' at US Open American Reilly Opelka said he understands the need for long breaks, which often include changing from sweaty clothes. "It's ridiculous," Opelka said. "I understand it's getting press because tennis is lame and tennis media sucks and they're terrible. "We're hydrating a lot. We have to use the bathroom. To change my socks, shoes, my inserts in my shoes, shorts, shirt, everything, the whole nine yards, hat, it takes five, six minutes. Then by the time I walk to and from the court. "I don't know Tsitsipas, I don't know his situation. I doubt he's getting coached. Today, I couldn't even take my bag in to change. I'm like, 'Guys, my clothes and shoes are in here. You can come stand in here with me if you want.' I strictly go to change because it's hot and it's humid." More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Zverev glides into second round at US Open Related Story Tennis: Osaka kicks off US Open title defence with straight sets win
NEW YORK (REUTERS) - German Alexander Zverev got his bid for a maiden major off to a smooth start by beating American Sam Querrey 6-4 7-5 6-2 in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday (Aug 31). Querrey kept the match close through the first two sets but was stymied by unforced errors as 2020 runner-up Zverev kept his game comparatively clean and fired off 25 winners. The world number four went in for the kill in the third set and with the fifth game secured a double-break lead with the momentum squarely in his favour, never facing a break point himself during the entire match. In a showdown between two 198cm power servers, Zverev's consistency proved critical and he won 90 per cent of his first-serve points compared to 70 per cent for Querrey, who fended off three match points in the seventh game but was nonetheless defeated in a brisk one hour and 40 minutes. Zverev, who was two points away from winning a year ago before Dominic Thiem rallied to victory, is among the younger cohort hoping to upset world number one Novak Djokovic's bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam. Zverev said Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and Russian Daniil Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in the French and Australian Open finals respectively, were two of the potential challengers to the world number one, though he was quick to remind reporters of his own win over Djokovic in the Tokyo semi-finals, en route to Olympic gold. "I was the first person to beat him on a hard court or grass court this season, and I was also the only person to beat him at a very, very big event this year," he said. "I hope I can keep the level up and maybe even play better, because to beat Novak here is going to be an extremely difficult task." The win extended Zverev's unbeaten streak to 12, after he walked away with the Western & Southern Open title earlier this month. "I hope in two weeks' time I'll be on an 18-match winning streak," he told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. He faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain or Lucas Pouille of France in the second round. More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Murray 'lost respect' for Tsitsipas over delay 'nonsense' at US Open Related Story Tennis: Osaka kicks off US Open title defence with straight sets win
NEW YORK (AFP) - Tokyo Olympic singles champion Alexander Zverev said on Friday (Aug 27) he plans to take legal action over accusations of domestic abuse by former girlfriend Olya Sharypova and again denied any wrongdoing. Zverev, last year's US Open runner-up, is seeded fourth in this year's New York Grand Slam hardcourt tennis showdown that begins Monday. Last October, Sharypova accused the German tennis star of physical and emotional abuse, claims he denied. More details of her claims were published in a story by online magazine Slate on Thursday, prompting Zverev to release a statement on Twitter about the matter. "I have engaged my German and American lawyers in the matter. They have already obtained a preliminary injunction against the source and the author who published the false allegations," Zverev said. "The court followed our arguments and states, the accusations aroused are defamatory and false. The lawyers have therefore initiated further proceedings against the source and the author. "I categorically and unequivocally deny having abused Olya." Slate magazine stood by its report. "Though Slate does not comment on pending litigation, we stand by our fair and accurate reporting based on multiple sources and interviews," spokesperson Katie Rayford said. Zverev, meanwhile, said he backs an idea by the ATP Tour to create a domestic violence policy similar to those used in some team sports leagues. "I also fully support the creation of an ATP domestic violence policy," tweeted Zverev, who closed by saying, "I will not address this matter any further." Statement: pic.twitter.com/MElUEGDkMv— Alexander Zverev (@AlexZverev) August 27, 2021 More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Zverev says 'that's not who I am' after abuse allegations Related Story Tennis: German star Zverev denies he attacked ex-girlfriend
PARIS (AFP) - Alexander Zverev progressed to the French Open quarter-finals for the third time in four years on Sunday (June 6) with a crushing 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win over Japan's Kei Nishikori. Sixth seed Zverev will face world number 46 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain for a place in the last four. Zverev has won his past nine sets at Roland Garros after recovering from two sets down against qualifier Oscar Otte in the first round. He is the second German man in the Open era to reach three quarter-finals in Paris after Boris Becker (1986-87, 1989 and 1991). More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Nadal ousts Zverev to advance to Rome semi-finals, will face Opelka Related Story Tennis: Zverev storms into third round with straight-sets victory
MADRID (AFP) – Rafael Nadal lost 6-4, 6-4 to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Friday (May 7), casting doubts over the Spaniard’s form ahead of this month’s French Open. Nadal has now fallen early in two clay-court Masters tournaments ahead of the Grand Slam in Paris, after going out in the Monte Carlo quarter-finals last month before winning in Barcelona. Even in Barcelona, however, he needed to save a championship point to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. World number two Nadal is hoping to clinch a 14th Roland Garros title and record-setting 21st major in the French capital. “I had the match under control at the beginning and was playing well for six games, probably playing better than him,” said Nadal. “Then at 4-2 serving for 5-2, I had a disaster.” Nadal continued: “Of course, playing against one of the best players in the world, under these circumstances, with this speed of the court, it’s very difficult. I tried but it’s true that the serve was difficult to control today.” Zverev has now beaten Nadal three times in a row but this was his first victory on clay against the five-time Madrid champion. “It’s definitely one of the biggest wins of my career so far, especially on clay against Rafa,” Zverev said. “It is the toughest thing to do in our sport. Beating him in his house, in Spain, is incredible but the tournament is not over yet.” Zverev’s impressive straights-set win at the Caja Magica earns him a meeting with Dominic Thiem in the semis, in what will be a repeat of last year’s US Open final, which was won by Thiem. After losing to world number eight Andrey Rublev in Monaco, Nadal was convincingly beaten by Zverev and the spotlight will be on the 34-year-old now in Rome next week, his last tournament before heading to Paris. Thiem in fourth Madrid semi It started well for Nadal when he broke Zverev to love to lead 4-2 in the first set, Zverev serving a double fault to give away the first advantage. But the world number five immediately hit back and then pulled away, four straight games clinching him the set. A whipping forehand down the line put Zverev up another break midway through the second and while Nadal resisted more pressure in the seventh game to hold, Zverev served out an impressive victory after an hour and 44 minutes. Thiem had earlier come from a set down to beat John Isner 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the last four. The 36-year-old Isner has never been at his most comfortable on clay but he caught Thiem cold by breaking early to claim the opening set. But Thiem ripped a forehand pass to open up a break opportunity at 3-2 in the second, which the Austrian took when Isner hit the net with a volley. Thiem was reading Isner’s serve better by the time the match went to a decider but it was not until 4-4 that he struck again, when he chased down three Isner volleys to serve for victory. He closed out the win in just under two hours. “He’s one of the best servers in history, especially here in the altitude, it bounces high and it’s so difficult to return,” said Thiem after reaching the Madrid semi-finals for the fourth successive time. “To start with a break down is almost like losing the first set but I stayed focused, kept a good fighting spirit. Very few points decide that kind of game and that’s how I turned things around in the second set.” Norway’s Casper Ruud reached the semi-finals of a claycourt Masters event for the third successive time by defeating Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-1. Ruud, who knocked out world number five and Monte Carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous round, will face either Matteo Berrettini of Italy or Chile’s Cristian Garin for a place in the final.
MUNICH, GERMANY (AFP) - Top seed Alexander Zverev crashed out of Munich's ATP clay court tournament after a shock defeat to qualifier Ilya Ivashka in the quarter-finals on Friday (April 30). Despite winning the opening set on a tie-breaker, Zverev, the 2017 and 2018 Munich champion, bowed out 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 3-6 after Ivashka of Belarus converted his first match point. The 27-year-old is ranked 101 places below world number six Zverev, 24, who made numerous errors and rowed throughout the match with his coach, who is also his father, sat in the stands. "This is a match I should never have lost - I'm sad and disappointed", admitted Germany's Zverev. Half of his 14 double faults came in the deciding set as Zverev lost after two hours, 33 minutes while Ivashka reached a semi-final on tour for the first time in his career. In Saturday's semis, Ivashka faces Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff who needed exactly three hours to seal a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3) win over fourth-seed Filip Krajinovic. "Ivashka is playing quite good tennis here," said Struff after the 27-year-old Belarusian "blew away" Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori 6-1, 6-2 in the first round. This is the first time the 31-year-old Struff has reached the semis in Munich since 2014 and this will be his eighth attempt to reach the final of an ATP tournament for the first time. "I haven't yet taken that final step to play for a title and, of course, I would like to do that," Struff added.
LONDON (REUTERS) - Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev finally claimed his maiden victory at the ATP Finals with an impressive 6-3 6-4 defeat of Germany's Alexander Zverev to join Novak Djokovic at the top of the Tokyo Group on Monday (Nov 16). Medvedev went home empty-handed from his debut at the season-ender last year, losing all three matches. But after an error-strewn opening to the match from both players, the 24-year-old dominated the 2018 champion who again struggled with his shaky serve. Medvedev dumped a second serve in the net to lose the opening game but Zverev served three consecutive double-faults in the next game on the way to handing the break back. Some brutal baseline exchanges took their toll on both players and Zverev worked overtime trying to stay level at 2-3, only two throw away the game with consecutive double-faults. From then on Medvedev was too solid for the German, taking the first set with an ace and breaking in the seventh game of the second set as Zverev again wavered. Zverev won only four of 19 second serve points in the match - a statistic that ultimately proved costly as the wily Medvedev closed out the victory. Medvedev will face world number one Djokovic on Wednesday. Djokovic opened his quest for a sixth ATP Finals title with a crushing straight-sets defeat of Diego Schwartzman.
PARIS (AFP) - Alexander Zverev produced a brilliant display on Saturday (Nov 7) to end Rafael Nadal's hopes of a first Paris Masters title and set up a final against Daniil Medvedev. The German fourth seed dominated Nadal at Bercy Arena to win their semi-final 6-4, 7-5 and claim his second straight victory over the 20-time Grand Slam champion after also taking their clash at last year's ATP Tour Finals. "I'm extremely happy, how the season continued for me after the break has been pretty good," Zverev told Amazon Prime Sport. Nadal was bidding to equal Novak Djokovic's record of 36 Masters titles this week but will instead turn his attentions to his attempt for a maiden ATP Finals success ahead of the season-ending event starting in London on Nov 15. The 23-year-old Zverev is on a 12-match winning streak after claiming back-to-back tournament triumphs in Cologne. His run in Paris continues an excellent season for the world number seven, who also made the 2020 US Open final only to lose to Dominic Thiem from two sets up. Zverev has put his improvement down to the work he did with new coach David Ferrer during the coronavirus lockdown. "The biggest influence was the practice time we had during the Covid break," he added. "I think we improved a lot of things and it's showing now." He will be confident going into Sunday's final, taking in a 5-1 winning record over third seed Medvedev, who beat Milos Raonic in the first semi-final 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). "The head-to-head is one thing, but in a final it's always different," added Zverev, who lost to Medvedev in last year's Shanghai Masters final.
PARIS (AFP) - Alexander Zverev battled past Stan Wawrinka in straight sets in the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Friday (Nov 6) and will face Rafael Nadal in the last four. The 23-year-old German, who is seeking a third straight title after back-to-back victories on home soil in Cologne, edged out Wawrinka 6-3, 7-6 (7/1). "From my side I thought it was a pretty good match," said Zverev. "Definitely happy to be in the semis and it'll be an interesting one tomorrow (Saturday against Nadal)... A lot of people are looking forward to that and I am too." Fourth seed Zverev has won 11 consecutive matches since losing in the French Open last 16 to Italian youngster Jannik Sinner. He has a 5-1 losing record against Nadal, but won their last meeting at last year's ATP Tour Finals, which was also played on an indoor hard court. Wawrinka looked to be building momentum in the second set, but his level dropped when he served to force a decider in the 10th game and Zverev broke before easing through a one-sided tie-break. More on this topic Related Story Tennis: Rafael Nadal beats Pablo Carreno Busta to reach Paris Masters semis Related Story Tennis: ‘Simply incredible’ as Novak Djokovic equals Pete Sampras’ year-end world number one record