Tournament victory in China
Zverev wins title and aims for bigger things
September 26, 2023, 5:37 p.m
Alexander Zverev wobbles briefly, but remains confident in the end: in Chengdu, China, he achieves his second tournament victory of the year. This means that the German number one in tennis can hope for the prestigious ATP Finals in Turin. But first there is a strong hard court tournament coming up.
Alexander Zverev bared his teeth and shouted his joy, after almost three hours of hard work it was finally done: the Olympic tennis champion secured his second title of the year in Chengdu, China. In the final he beat Roman Safiullin from Russia 6:7 (2:7), 7:6 (7:5), 6:3 and celebrated his 21st success at ATP level.
“I had a very difficult time last year,” said Zverev, referring to the phase since his serious injury at the French Open 2022. “But I’m coming back now and I hope it continues like this.” In July he had already succeeded in triumphing in his hometown of Hamburg, and the next success for Zverev now means that participation in the ATP Finals from November 12th to 19th in Turin is becoming increasingly likely. In the ranking of the year’s best, the German number one is in seventh place – the best eight professionals qualify for the prestigious annual final, which Zverev won in 2018 and 2021.
Zverev made his comeback to the tour in Chengdu after suffering a hamstring injury in the quarterfinals of the US Open against Carlos Alcaraz in early September. And he appeared to be well recovered physically – he also needed a strong physique in the final. Safiullin is “someone I know very well and who is currently playing great tennis. It won’t be easy,” said the serving giant before the duel with the 55th in the world rankings, whom he has known since childhood. Zverev won the only previous duel in three competitive sets at the French Open in 2021.
First Beijing, then Turin?
In Chengdu, the top German player seemed to live up to his role as favorite in the first set. But he didn’t take advantage of his chances – especially when the score was 5:4. The tenth in the world rankings had three set points, but was unable to convert them and ultimately gave up the pass. And the courageous Safiullin continued with determination and moved ahead 2-0 in the second set. Now Zverev’s fighting spirit was awakened and both opponents once again fought hard-fought rallies until the tiebreak, in which Zverev showed better nerves this time.
In the third set, the favorite finally dominated, also benefiting from strange misfires by Safiullin on his own serve. The break to make it 3-1 helped Zverev, who now confidently delivered his own service. After 2:55 hours he converted his first match point.
Zverev continues at the strong hard court tournament in Beijing. His first round opponent there is the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman. The goal: The next points with a view towards Turin.