Olympic champion Alexander Zverev won his 18th professional title in Vienna and added the next highlight to his successful tennis year. The 24-year-old from Hamburg defeated the US qualifier Frances Tiafoe 7: 5, 6: 4 in the final of the ATP tournament in the Wiener Stadthalle on Sunday. In the German best list, Zverev drew level with the former Wimbledon winner Michael Stich, who had won 18 titles in his entire career.
Zverev only has Boris Becker in front of him in the national ranking. Germany’s most successful tennis player has won 49 individual tournaments in his career, including six Grand Slam events. Zverev has so far been denied these most important titles.
With a tailwind in the final sprint
For the fourth in the world ranking it was already the fifth tournament victory of the season in Vienna – only in 2017 he had also triumphed five times so far. In addition to Olympic gold in Tokyo, Zverev has already won the Masters events in Madrid and Cincinnati this year and also won in Acapulco. Stich (1991) and Becker (1996) had already celebrated titles in Vienna.
Zverev, who now has the most titles by a player born in the 1990s, is heading into the two remaining highlights of this tennis year with a lot of tailwind. The German number one is one of the top favorites both at the Masters in Paris, which starts on Monday, where he has a bye, and at the ATP Finals of the eight best of the year in Turin (November 14th to 21st). (AFP)
