TURIN, Italy — It was in regards to the match at hand on Sunday as Alexander Zverev confidently rumbled to his second profession title on the ATP Finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Daniil Medvedev.
Zverev, ripping unreturnable serves and spectacular swing volleys, didn’t face a break level in opposition to an exceedingly proficient opponent who had overwhelmed him 5 occasions in a row and stolen fairly a little bit of his thunder in latest seasons as essentially the most profitable man of their age group.
However Sunday was additionally in regards to the matches and the season to come back, which was why Zverev, who gained the trophy in 2018, didn’t wait lengthy in his post-victory interview to reference 2022 with a slight smile on his stubbled face.
No man has gained the ATP Finals twice who has not risen to No. 1 within the rankings and gained a number of Grand Slam singles titles.
For the second, Zverev, 24, has but to achieve the highest spot and but to win one of many 4 main titles that stay tennis’ litmus assessments of greatness.
Will he be an unlucky exception? It’s onerous to consider so along with his up-to-date talent set.
“I type of have succeeded on each single degree, and there’s one factor lacking,” he stated, referring to a Grand Slam title. “I hope I can try this subsequent 12 months.”
He has distinctive energy and attain and, like Medvedev, exceptional mobility at 6-foot-6. He has among the best first serves and backhands on this planet and improved court docket positioning and a shored-up forehand that was usually a decisive punch down the stretch in Turin as he knocked out the world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a three-set semifinal after which the second-ranked Medvedev in a match a lot shorter in size and thrills.
“I really feel prefer it’s inevitable Zverev goes to win a serious,” stated Patrick McEnroe, the ESPN analyst and former U.S. Davis Cup captain. “I’ve been saying for a pair years that he’s been knocking on the door. Now he’s banging on it.”
He was already pounding loudly in 2020 on the U.S. Open, the place he misplaced in a nervy, five-set remaining to Dominic Thiem during which Zverev misplaced a two-set lead and each gamers appeared to shrink from the prospect of breaking by.
However although Zverev didn’t attain a Grand Slam remaining in 2021, this has been a reaffirming 12 months with six singles titles, together with the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo after stopping Djokovic alongside the way in which. Zverev, lengthy thought-about gentle when it mattered most, appears extra clearheaded below duress and higher at making tactical shifts and good selections on the fly.
“He’s been an amazing participant for a very long time,” stated Mischa Zverev, his brother, who has been teaching him of their father Alexander’s absence from the tour. “Sascha has all of the pictures, that huge serve and massive backhand and is transferring nicely. However I feel this week he actually performed clever tennis and was really an all-rounder. I even noticed him hit a backhand slice down the road and are available to internet to complete off the volley. He stepped it up when he wanted to and was very affected person when vital. He blended up his serve very nicely and blended up the tempo of his pictures very nicely.”
After complaining of weariness and shedding shortly to Medvedev within the semifinals of the Paris Masters indoors earlier this month, Zverev got here again at him with conviction in Turin, shedding within the round-robin in a third-set tiebreaker after holding a match level after which elevating the bar on Sunday, studying the stream of play, together with Medvedev’s more and more determined drop pictures.
“It was nearly like he used all his senses to play at this time,” Mischa Zverev stated of his brother. “As a lot as seeing the ball and feeling it when it touches the racket, he was actually making an attempt to suppose a couple of steps forward, making an attempt to take heed to the group and the way in which the opponent hits the ball, absorbing all the knowledge he might get and utilizing it to his benefit.”
It was a powerful efficiency however Zverev, regardless of his big-bang recreation and capability to appeal in three languages, stays a divisive determine who’s troublesome for a lot of spectators to totally embrace due to the continued tour investigation into his alleged bodily violence in opposition to a former girlfriend, Olya Sharypova. Different sports activities might need suspended him till the decision of such an investigation, however males’s tennis, missing a transparent coverage till this 12 months, has allowed him to maintain taking part in (and maintain successful).
He has denied the allegations of abuse, made by Sharypova in media interviews, and stated that he welcomes the inquiry so he can clear his title. He has stated he has been capable of play so nicely in 2021 as a result of he is aware of the reality and is assured that he’ll ultimately be vindicated. However his efficiency has been a show of compartmentalization, certainly not as easy as Zverev has made it look.
“I’m his brother, so I’ve at all times had religion and perception in him from the day he was born,” stated Mischa Zverev, who’s 10 years older and preceded him on tour. “However sure, to win six tournaments, two Masters finals and Olympic gold, that’s an amazing 12 months for anyone and particularly with the issues that have been occurring off the court docket, it’s extra so spectacular.”
However there’s a value, each in misplaced sponsorship and misplaced help.
“I feel it’s affected him personally much more than he’s let on,” McEnroe stated. “These allegations hanging over him are very uncomfortable, and we are able to solely hope it really works out for everyone, together with the younger lady on this state of affairs. However the bigger concern for tennis if I placed on my ESPN hat and former U.S.T.A. hat is that, let’s be trustworthy, these younger guys in the mean time will not be transferring the needle for tennis the identical manner the older guys have. They don’t seem to be promoting tickets the primary week of the U.S. Open the identical manner that Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have been doing.”
There’s an achievement hole, in fact. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Djokovic have been dueling for 15 years and have gained 20 Grand Slam singles titles apiece. However there’s additionally an attraction hole with Zverev’s off-court points and with Stefanos Tsitsipas, pretty or unfairly, having to fend off accusations of gamesmanship this summer time due to his prolonged off-court breaks throughout matches and taking criticism after saying he didn’t see a necessity for somebody his age to get a Covid-19 vaccine, although he later stated he deliberate to get the shot.
For now, Medvedev appears essentially the most broadly interesting of the lead pack: an unorthodox, often contortionist participant and artistic conversationalist who engages with and typically confronts a crowd (as he did once more in Turin) however usually with a twinkle in his eye.
He senses the priority about the way forward for males’s tennis however is aware of his historical past. There have been doomsayers when Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe retired, doomsayers when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi retired, however alongside got here new champions and rivalries that gathered gravitas.
“Tennis is a superb sport, so I don’t see why our era would miss on one thing,” Medvedev stated. “In fact, possibly we don’t do 20 Grand Slams, but no one did earlier than Roger, Rafa and Novak, so that they have been additionally worse than them if we are able to say like this. It’s undoubtedly not going to be a disgrace.”
For now, Medvedev, 25, has one main title, which got here at this 12 months’s U.S. Open the place he stopped Djokovic’s Grand Slam try within the remaining. For now, Zverev has none and has but to defeat a top-10 participant in a Grand Slam event, however as he and his brother head to the Maldives for a break after a confidence-building season, Zverev is already flashing forward to 2022.
“My intestine tells me and never even my intestine, my mind, my eyes, my senses inform me he has the expertise and has all the things wanted to win a Grand Slam,” Mischa Zverev stated. “I consider it would occur quickly, however that it’s going to by no means occur can also be a risk. I can’t predict the longer term, however I at all times believed he might be No. 1 and can win Grand Slams, and I nonetheless consider that.”