LONDON: Alexander Zverev emphatically announced his arrival at the top of the men’s game by overpowering Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 to win his first ATP Finals title on Sunday.
The 21-year-old German, making his second appearance at the end-of-season showpiece, outlasted six-time champion Roger Federer in the semi-finals and repeated the feat against the world number one.
Djokovic had not been broken once in the tournament coming into the match, winning all 36 service games and only facing two break points but Zverev wrecked his numbers, breaking four times in the match.
The German, coached by Ivan Lendl, faltered just once when Djokovic broke him early in the second set but that was the only blemish on an extraordinary performance of power and skill. “I really can’t describe it,” said Zverev. “It is the biggest title I have ever won. Firstly, I want to congratulate Novak and we may never have seen the tennis he has played in the last few months before. He barely lost a match but thankfully he did to me.
“We (Djokovic and Zverev) had so many talks, not only about tennis but all different types of subjects — I won’t mention what — but you are a sharing person and you have shared some titles with me. I appreciate you letting me win one today.”
The Serbian top seed, 31, came into the match seeking to equal Federer’s record of six ATP Finals wins but was immediately aware he had a fight on his hands at London’s O2 Arena.