Again no title win for the German number one: In the final of the ATP Rasurnier in Stuttgart, Alexander Zverev lost to the American Taylor Fritz in two sets with 3: 6, 6: 7 (0: 7).
Not only would it have been his first tournament gain on lawn, he could also have crowned the first German winner in Stuttgart since Michael Stich in 1991. Alexander Zverev’s rising shape curve also stagnated on lawn on the weather-technically mixed final day of the ATP tournament at the Weissenhof.
Zverev in sentence one under pressure
Against the world ranking seventh Taylor Fritz, the Hamburger does not start to the final. However, the American showed why he has not given a single sentence in the course of the tournament. Fritz won almost 90 percent of the points on his first surcharge, beat eight aces and did not allow a single break ball against him. Thanks to an almost perfect service game by the American at 5: 3, Zverev still had no chance of still turning the sentence.
Record after Interruption fail
Right at the beginning of the second round, however, Alexander Zverev got a lot of time to collect: at 1: 1 it started to dribble from the thick clouds over Stuttgart, and the German service was interrupted.
More than an hour later, Zverev presented his usual strong serve after the game was resumed. However, he missed the decisive chance to take the lead and the match went into the tie -break. However, the German quickly lost control: Taylor Fritz of the six match balls was sufficient to win the Rasm tournament at the Weissenhof in two sets.
American Fritz is a “fear opponent”
After Semi-final victory against the American Ben Shelton It was already clear that Zverev would not necessarily meet his favorite opponent with his compatriot Taylor Fritz. Last year, the German lost four times against the American, including Wimbledon and the US Open. In Stuttgart, Fritz consistently showed a strong performance on his favorite covering and prevailed in the semi-finals against the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliaassime in two sets.
After the fifth defeat in series against Fritz, Zverev joked at the On-Court interview that he did not want to see the American again in the next two to three years, and caused laughter in the stadium. “It was a wonderful week. My first final on lawns in eight years. I hope that I will be in Paris in the final next year. If not, I will be very happy to be here again,” said Zverev.
Preparation for Wimbledon continues
The 28-year-old used the competition in the Baden-Württemberg state capital to prepare for the prestigious highlight in Wimbledon (from June 30). The 500 tournament in Halle/Westfalen, which started on Saturday, also becomes training under competitive conditions for Zverev.
Prize on Sun., June 15, 2025 6:00 p.m., SWR Aktuell Baden-Württemberg, SWR BW
