Zverev overtakes Rublev to claim first Cincinnati title

The German Alexander Zverev, third seed, maintained his winning streak at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 by beating Russian Andrey Rublev, fourth seed, 6-2, 6-3 in the final and proclaiming himself the new champion. The match between the two tennis players, their fifth as professionals, had no more history than to confirm the great dominance that the German tennis player has over the Russian who has won all the duels. Zverev, who entered the tournament without ever having won a match in Cincinnati, emerged as the best with a powerful and consistent tennis, which allowed him to finish Rublev, the executioner of the favorite, his compatriot Daniil Medvedev, in the semifinal, in just 59 minutes of action.

The German tennis player, who had never been able to win in the previous six appearances in Cincinnati, has won the fourth ATP title so far this season. Although Rublev managed to make the only break of the match to Zverev in the eighth game of the second sleeve for the part 5-3, immediately with his serve, which could never be a winning factor, despite placing 11 aces, He lost it to the German tennis player, current Olympic gold medalist at Tokyo 2020, who took advantage of the first match point he had (15-40). The statistics of the match left no doubt of the superiority of Zverev, who played spectacularly from the back of the court, with a dominant rest that allowed him to make five “breaks” and then in the climbs to the net he was always safe. In the end, Zverev finished with 58 points won by just 36 from Rublev, who played his worst match of the tournament against the German tennis player, his executioner since they started playing at age 11.

Zverev, 24, world number five, as new Cincinnati Masters 1000 champion he took home a cash prize of $ 654,815 and 1000 ATP ranking points. While Rublev, 23, number seven in the world, received a check for $ 354,720 and 600 points for the ATP classification. Zverev, who became the first German to win the Cincinnati tournament since Boris Becker did in 1985 earlier this year, won the Mutua Madrid Open crown in May to end a Masters title drought. 1000 three-year-olds, while also winning the trophy in Acapulco in March. Now, the 24-year-old German tennis player is tied for ninth with the most Masters 1000 titles won since the series began in 1990 and is the first player to win at Cincinnati and the Olympic gold medal in singles there. year since American Andre Agassi did it in 1996. On a spirited start, Zverev came out dominant from punching exchanges while playing consistently and aggressively. The German tennis player hit with great depth and power on his groundstrokes to dictate from the baseline while achieving a 3-0 run ahead. Zverev was strong on serve during the first set, losing just three points when he closed it in just 27 minutes after landing a forehand volley.

The second set started in a similar fashion when Zverev responded well to Rublev's heavy blows to force the Russian to make unforced errors when he broke serve again in the first game. Zverev then kept Rublev behind the baseline as he produced strong forehand shots and closed the net well to always control the Russian tennis player across the entire court. The 17-time circuit champion continued with a great rest and broke for the fifth time to secure his impressive victory. Rublev, who was in his second Masters 1000 final, having enjoyed a race to the championship game in Monte Carlo in April, was still unsuccessful in the end. The Russian, who triumphed in Rotterdam in March to capture his fourth ATP 500 title, earned his first win over Medvedev on his way to the final in Cincinnati. But in the end he failed to see his dream and goal of becoming the sixth different Russian to win a Masters 1000 title since the series began in 1990 and the sixth different champion at this level this season.