Now he is THE top favorite at the US Open!
Olympic champion Alex Zverev (24) also wins the last preparatory tournament before the Grand Slam in New York after his Tokyo triumph.
In the final of the ATP Masters in Cincinnati (USA), the German easily defeated the Russian Andrey Rublev (23) 6: 2, 6: 3. Tennis legend Boris Becker (53) was the last German to win there in 1985.
Zverev: “I won my first match here four days ago, now I have the title. It’s been an incredible week. ”Before that, he’d lost every game in the main draw in Cincinnati.
It is the 17th tournament victory for Zverev and the fifth title at one of the Masters events. Against his buddy Rublev, the native of Hamburg also decides the fifth settlement in his favor and remains against him without losing a set. The world number seventh from Moscow missed his first triumph in a tournament in the second most important category.
Zverev had everything under control against the Olympic champion in mixed from the start. After a quick 4-0 lead, the first set was over after just 28 minutes. Zverev also opened the second round with a break because he successfully attacked his opponent’s second serve.
Overall, the fifth in the world rankings seemed to be the fitter one on the field after the exhausting semi-finals of the two. Although he gave up his service for the first time at 5-2, Zverev won safely after just under an hour of play.
After the injury-related cancellations by Rafael Nadal (35), Dominic Thiem (27) and Roger Federer (40), Zverev is a big favorite together with world number one Novak Djokovic (34). But: At the Olympics, Zverev eliminated the Serbs in the semifinals. Now he even has the chance to undo Djokovic’s dream of winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.
The men’s event in Cincinnati was endowed with more than $ 4.8 million (4.1 million euros) and serves as the last major test before the US Open. The final Grand Slam tournament of the season begins in New York in a week. Zverev had reached the final there last year and barely missed his first Grand Slam title.
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