Alexander Zverev crowns his comeback on the ATP Tour with the second title of the year. In Chengdu, China, the Hamburg native defeated Roman Safiullin from Russia after almost three hours of hard work.
Alexander Zverev bared his teeth and shouted out his joy, after almost three hours of hard work it was finally done: the Olympic tennis champion has secured his second title this year in Chengdu, China.
In Tuesday’s final, he beat Russia’s Roman Safiullin 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to celebrate his 21st ATP-level win overall.
“I had a very difficult time last year,” said Zverev, referring to the phase since his serious injury at the French Open 2022: “But I’m coming back now and I hope it continues like this.”
In July, he had already managed the triumph in his home country Hamburg, the next success now means for Zverev: a participation in the ATP Finals from 12 to 19 November in Turin is becoming more and more likely. The German number one is seventh in the ranking of the year’s best – the best eight professionals qualify for the prestigious annual event, which Zverev won in 2018 and 2021.
Zverev physically well recovered
Zverev made his comeback to the tour in Chengdu after suffering a thigh injury in the quarterfinals of the US Open against Carlos Alcaraz in early September. And he showed excellent physical recovery – he also needed a strong physique in the final.
Safiullin was “someone I know very well and who is currently playing great tennis. It won’t be easy,” the giant of serve had said before the duel with the 55th-ranked player in the world, whom he has known since childhood. Zverev won the only previous duel at the French Open in 2021 in three hard-fought sets.
In Chengdu, the German top player seemed to live up to his role as favourite already in the first set. But he failed to make the most of his chances – especially at 5:4. The world number ten had three set points, but was unable to convert them and eventually conceded the set.
Fought final in Chengdu
And the bravely playing Safiullin continued wildly, pulling away to 2-0 in the second set. Zverev’s fighting spirit was now awakened, however, and both opponents once again fought out rallies until the tiebreak, in which Zverev proved to have the better nerves this time.
The favourite finally dominated the third set, benefiting from Safiullin’s strange lapses on his own serve. The break to 3:1 helped Zverev, who was now able to break his own service with confidence. He converted his first match point after 2:55 hours.
Zverev’s next match is the hard court tournament in Beijing. His first round opponent will be Diego Schwartzman from Argentina. The goal: The next points with a view to Turin.
