ALEXANDER ZVEREV CHAMPION IN ROME ATP MEN’S TENNIS BY DIMONATOR FOR 10SBALLS

Written by: Staff on 21st May 2017

ALEXANDER ZVEREV CHAMPION IN ROME ATP MEN'S TENNIS BY DIMONATOR FOR 10SBALLS

epa05979429 German Alexander Zverev (R) holds his trophy after defeating Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic (L) in the men's final of the Italian Open tennis at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 21 May 2017. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI |

Hero to zero: Djokovic follows up big semifinal win by losing to Zverev in Rome final

By Ricky Dimon

It looked like Novak Djokovic was turning things around when he hammered Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday.

And then it didn’t.

Less than 24 hours later, Djokovic suffered another disappointing loss in what has been a surprisingly poor 2017 campaign for the world No. 2. Alexander Zverev got the best of him 6-4, 6-3 in Sunday’s title match, pulling off the upset after one hour and 21 minutes.

An inauspicious start saw Djokovic double-fault on the first point of the match and get broken in the opening game. He never came close to getting back on serve because Zverev surrendered only six points in five service games during the first set.

The 20-year-old German remained dominant on serve in the second, to the extent that he never faced a single break point. As such, one more break of Djokovic at 1-1 in the second proved to be enough to send Zverev across the finish line. After missing a chance to seize a double-break lead, Zverev delivered an especially clutch hold for 5-3 before adding one more break for good measure.

Alexander Zverev of Germany returns the ball to Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their final match at the Italian Open Tennis Tournament, in the Central Stadium at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 21 May 2017. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI

“It’s such an honour being on the court against one of the best ever players,” the world No. 17 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 Zverev. “You played fantastic and deserve it.”

With the victory, Zverev becomes just the ninth player 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 event and Shanghai being added as an indoor hard-court Masters.

He will also break into the top 10 for the first time in his career on Monday.