It will be a rare all-unseeded final at a 500-point event when Alexander Zverev goes up against fellow German Florian Mayer on Sunday in Halle. Zverev is one win away from his first career ATP title after upsetting Roger Federer.
Alexander Zverev and Florian Mayer will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when the two Germans battle for the Gerry Weber Open title on Sunday afternoon.
For Mayer, his first final appearance since Bucharest in 2011 has come from just about out of nowhere. Struggling down at No. 192 in the rankings mainly because of major injury problems, Mayer had won just 15 ATP-level matches since the start of 2014 when he took the court this week. He also scoffed at being denied a wild card in Halle, forcing him to use one of his protected-ranking entries in order to participate. The rest is history, as the former world No. 18 is through to his sixth title match following straight-set victories over Brian Baker, Andreas Seppi, and Dominic Thiem (he also got a second-round walkover from Kei Nishikori).
Sunday’s showdown had Thiem vs. Roger Federer written all over it for much of the week, but neither one remains on the schedule. Before Mayer took out Thiem in the semis, Zverev stunned the eight-time champion Federer 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3. It was Federer’s sixth loss in 60 Halle matches and just his third in his last 49 outings. Zverev preceded that triumph by beating Viktor Troicki, Benjamin Becker, and Marcos Baghdatis in mostly routine fashion. The 19-year-old German is now 27-14 for the season and will find himself in the top 30 on Monday.
“I think it’s going to be a very tough match,” Mayer commented. “He’s a young, [up-and-coming] German player. He will be in the top 10 for sure in the future. I think he will be the favorite. Maybe the pressure is a little bit more on his side to win his first title. We will see.”
The 32-year-old is correct on all counts. Zverev is an obvious favorite on paper, but he has never won an ATP title and the difficulty of building on such a monumental win approximately 24 hours later should not be underestimated. This matchup–especially on grass–is also less than ideal for the youngster. Mayer’s eclectic game full of spins and slices will frustrate Zverev and force him to hit shots out of his strike zone. A slight upset may be in the cards, resulting in Mayer’s second-ever title.
Pick: Mayer in 3
[polldaddy poll=9449287]
Leave a Reply