Alezander Zverev turned initial jeers into cheers after he beat Novak Djokovic to win the Nitto ATP Finals title.
The German, nicknamed Sascha, was booed by fans for correctly stopping play during a rally in the semi-finals with Roger Federer on Saturday when a ball-boy accidentally spilt a boy on-court.
But he had the London audience – which included David Beckham and son Romeo – on his side this time as he won 6-4 6-3 for the biggest title of his young career.
The 21-year-old has been considered for many years to represent the future of men’s tennis – the leader of the Next Generation – and this was the right stage and against the right opponent to announce his arrival.
And Zverev rose to the occasion, matching Djokovic stride-for-stride, enjoying 86% of points won on his first serve in a pulsating first set.
Any doubts about whether he could live with the returning of Djokovic were soon answered as his serving was impeccable and he managed to break the Serb in the ninth game of the first set.
That was the first time Djokovic’s serve had been surrendered all week in the Capital.
Incredibly Djoko lost his next TWO service games in the second set as the World No.5 took control of the match and secured his £2.74m payday.
It’s strange why Djokovic didn’t play at his top level. Maybe his old coach Boris Becker had the answer. “It’s going to bother Djokovic that the crowd are supporting the young gun, the 21-year-old. That’s bothering him.”
Undeniably Zverev’s next target is ensuring he can get beyond the quarter-finals of a major – he reached the last eight at the 2018 French Open but that is the furthest he has gone in his fledging career.
The prestigious ATP title will be added to the Masters 1,000 crown won in Madrid and underlines that, come the Australian Open in January, he will be expected to break the stranglehold of Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer in the four majors in this sport.
Djokovic in pains after losing to Zverev
