Jannik Sinner narrowly won the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna in a thrilling final against Alexander Zverev. The German tennis professional showed his best performance of the season.
Jannik Sinner remains the measure of all things on the world’s hard courts and is hard to beat: The Italian also beat Alexander Zverev in the thrilling final of the ATP 500 tournament after an extremely strong performance with 3:6, 6:3 and 7:5. through.
“It feels fantastic. I tried to play my best tennis. It was a rollercoaster ride in the third set, but I always tried to push”said Sinner. “That was the solution.”
But Zverev can also be extremely satisfied with his performance despite the defeat. He had Sinner – contrary to expectations – on the verge of defeat and only nuances were missing for his triumph. The Hamburg native has not yet shown a better performance this year.
Surprising, early break
Zverev had to fend off a break point in his first service game, but was then able to win the game with three good first serves. Sinner appeared extremely self-confident and turned every opportunity into a point.
But the German was not deterred and tried return to get into the rallies powerfully. Zverev managed this almost perfectly when the score was 2:1 and Sinner had a 40:0 lead – and he surprisingly managed the break to make it 3:1.
High-class and fast-paced
Zverev played extremely offensively, aggressively, stayed close to the baseline, hit the balls deep and extremely powerfully into the field. Sinner clearly had problems with the high quality of Zverev’s punches. Zverev hadn’t been seen so offensively in a long time, probably almost never before.
A high-class, extremely fast-paced match developed in which Zverev appeared more confident, acted more effectively and was less prone to mistakes. The 28-year-old managed almost everything in this phase and confidently increased the score to 5:2.
Sinner stuck with it, but couldn’t impress his opponent. Zverev also kept his nerve in his next service game and made it 6:3 – the Italian’s first set loss in this tournament.
Sinner improves
Right at the beginning of the second set, the South Tyrolean improved, increasingly giving Zverev trouble with stop balls – and he immediately managed a break to make it 2-0. Sinner had built up the momentum and remained extremely stable in his service games (around 80 percent of points won after the first serve).
Zverev also performed strongly, but was unable to catch up. Sinner finished confidently at 6:3.
Zverev fends off breakballs
Zverev started the third set with concentration and a win at serve (1-0). But Sinner also showed no signs of wear and tear and brought his service through. It was a duel of equals in which both of them reached their highest level at times.
With the score at 2:2, Zverev was able to fend off two break points with his courageous style of play and win the game 3:2. But Sinner didn’t show any weakness either. When the score was 3:3, the 24-year-old appeared to have injured his left thigh; he suddenly limped and could no longer walk properly.
World class shots from Sinner
Zverev didn’t let this influence him and continued to play with great concentration. But the Italian caught himself and held his own. Sinner increased his service games again and won them all clearly. And when the score was 5:5, he managed a world-class performance to make it 6:5 against the German, who was also playing well.
Sinner left no stone unturned in his service game and secured the match and the tournament victory with 7:5.