Zverev stuns Djokovic for biggest win and Nitto ATP Finals title

Alexander Zverev capped off his 2018 campaign with the biggest title of his career, and he did it the hard way.

Zverev’s weekend featured back-to-back upsets of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, with the latter result allowing him to lift the Nitto ATP Finals trophy on Sunday night. The 21-year-old stunned a previously on-fire Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 20 minutes.

“Obviously this is the biggest title of my career so far,” said Zverev, who has triumphed three times at Masters 1000 events. “This trophy means a lot–everything–to all the players. You only have so many chances of winning it. You play against the best players only. How I played today, how I won it, for me it’s just amazing.”

The German was nothing short of amazing throughout the first set, during which he served at 88 percent, fired seven aces without double-faulting, and lost four points in five service games against the best returner in tennis. One break at 4-4 was enough for Zverev, who started the 5-4 game with three straight aces and served it out comfortably.

Both players’ levels dipped at times in the second, as an uncharacteristically erratic Djokovic saw his unforced error count grow. Zverev briefly cooled off likely because he started to see the finish line. After breaking Djokovic for a 1-0 lead in the second, the world No. 5 dropped serve from out of nowhere with two double-faults and a wild backhand miss. But after breaking the top-seeded Serb again for 2-1, Zverev was not about to let another lead slip away.

He held his next three service games easily en route to a 5-3 advantage and wrapped things up in style with his fourth break of the night. Zverev converted his second championship point with an incredible backhand passing shot.

Highlights:

“Obviously it’s quite astonishing, winning this title, beating two such players back-to-back–Roger and Novak in (the) semifinals and finals,” the No. 3 seed reflected. “(It) means so much. I’m incredibly happy and incredibly proud of this moment right now.”

“I’m really happy for him,” Djokovic said. “Obviously it’s not great to lose a tennis match, especially in the finals of a big tournament. (I was) quite disappointed with my game. But I’m happy that he won the big title because we have a really good and friendly relationship. We reside in the same place; we train (together) a lot; we see each other a lot.

“Obviously you could see how much it means to him. He deserved it.”

[polldaddy poll=10168187]