ATP Finals 2021, Turin, Italy: Alexander Zverev does it again. He repeats the 2018 ATP Finals title run. This time though, he defeats Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 to win his second title. Ends 2021 with 59 tour-level wins.
Overcoming a challenge in the semifinals against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev was faced with another task. World No. 2, Daniil Medvedev, wanted to defend his title, however, he was outplayed by the German by his standout play.
It was a statement from the German. Blasting 23 winners, hitting eight aces, and not facing even a single breakpoint in this 75 minutes finale was nothing less than total domination.
“It was great,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “I won the [Nitto ATP] Finals, in the final against someone I had lost five times in a row, so I had to play one of my best matches. I am happy about that and happy to go on holiday with this win.”
“It is special, and I am super thrilled and happy right now,” Zverev added. “There is no better way to end the season than winning here. I am incredibly happy and I am already looking forward to next year.”
The Russian was on a roll with a five-match winning streak against the German. The latest one was in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals 2021. However, Zverev snapped this streak to level their head-to-head record at 6-6.
The opening set started with the German dominating long rallies and his power was unmatched. It was a very tactical matchup. Zverev broke in the third game and then it was all about consistency to grab the set. Winning 89% first-serve points, World No. 4 was serving fireballs.
An early break in the second set as well for World No. 4. Using the crowd support to good use, Zverev looked unstoppable. He pushed Medvedev so deep with power that the Russian looked helpless. With high-quality play and grit determination, Zverev grabbed the biggest title of the season.
The World No. 2 was on a 9 match winning streak at the ATP Finals. Beaten Dominic Thiem in the final last year to lift The Brad Drewett Trophy, after going 0-3 on debut in 2019.
Daniil Medvedev: “Even when [my serve] was going on the line, it didn’t really have that spark,” Medvedev said. “It wasn’t enough for Sascha, who is a great player and broke me two times. Sometimes, in a way, it’s not bad, but when you’re playing in a big final on a fast surface against someone who is serving like Sascha, it’s enough to win the match. We can talk about many things, but the serve was definitely the key today, and he was better.”
