Alexander Zverev scored the biggest win of his career on Sunday afternoon, taking down Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Zverev did not face a single break point while triumphing in one hour and 21 minutes.
Although the German has actually been more impressive than Djokovic throughout the 2017 campaign, it was a considerable upset based on Saturday’s semifinal results. Whereas Zverev needed three sets to hold off John Isner, Djokovic picked up an emphatic 6-1, 6-0 victory over Dominic Thiem–who had stunned Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.
Less than 24 hours later, however, the world No. 2 suffered another disappointing setback in what has been a surprisingly poor season. An inauspicious start saw Djokovic double-fault on the opening point of the contest and drop serve in the first game. He never came close to getting back on level terms because Zverev dropped a mere six points in five service games during the opener.
The 20-year-old remained dominant on serve in set two, to the extent that he never faced a single break point. He took complete control when Djokovic netted a forehand on break point at 1-1, produced a clutch hold at 4-3 after missing another break point at 4-2, and closed out the final in style with a break at 5-3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGzq48pF0Zw
“It’s such an honor being on the court against one of the best ever players,” Zverev said during the trophy ceremony. “If I have half the career Novak has had, I will be just fine.”
“You are definitely on a great path,” Djokovic told the world No. 17. “You played fantastic and deserve it.”
With the victory, Zverev became just the ninth man outside the Big 4 to win a Masters 1000 title since 2009–when the “Masters 1000” name was adopted and the schedule changed with Madrid replacing Hamburg as a clay-court Masters tournament and Shanghai being added as an indoor hard-court Masters 100 event.
Zverev will also crack the top 10 for the first time in his career on Monday.
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Zverev’s win was a shocker to me because Djokovic was playing good again but this article not only predicted Sascha’s but also Svitolina’s victory too, and gave serve as the reason for Sascha’s victory …. http://www.138mph.com/time-for-zverev-and-svitolina-to-shine/
Agassi hired
#Class
RT @TheBorisBecker: Excellent choice from @DjokerNole for bringing @AndreAgassi into his team ! Wishing both lots of luck in the future together
BB has his tongue in his cheek methinks
#He’s been there: got the tee-shirt
Koenig sounded sceptical when the news broke and pondered how much time Agassi would have to travel with Nole
I won over 600 on betting against Nadal vs theim then I freaking lose everything putting 600 to win only 130
I’m so happy Sascha won Rome!
GO Sascha!!☆☆♡♡
Great won,he really overpowered Nole.
Who’s going to win RG??
Rafa.
Yep. I”m picking Rafa. But I’d feel better if he’d not played Rome. The same goes for Thiem.
What about beefy boy? He was looking particularly bad in Rome lol
Rafa knows how to win FO. He’s been so impressive all year but especially when it mattered.
I’d be more worried for Rafa if he’d taken two weeks off before RG.
Rafa needs matches.
Never know about CryBaby until the slam starts. But IMO he’s overrated in slams.
Beat Rafa with a bad back. Beat Nole who wilted under pressure of trying to win his first French without Rafa in the final, and beat slumping Nole at USO.
I think his best is behind him. But again you never know with CryBaby.
Thiem is young and has plenty of time to recoup.
Well, you know Rafa better than I do!
I just didn’t like seeing him lose to Thiem so close to FO.
I think hiring Agassi should be good for Novak. Now that he sacked his entire team, he needs to start anew. Agassi sounds like a solid choice to me.
It’s a good pick because Agassi had a slump then played some of his best tennis in his thirties.Plus his game is similar to Noles.He was my favourite player for years.