Washington: German Alexander Zverev used his dominant serve to claim a fourth ATP title of the year with a commanding 6-4, 6-4 win over South African veteran Kevin Anderson at the Citi Open here Sunday. The women’s crown went to Russian Ekaterina Makarova who played a brilliant third set to beat Julia Goerges 3-6. 7-6(7-2), 6-0
Zverev, the 20-year-old fifth seed made only seven unforced errors and did not face a breakpoint on the super-fast outdoor hard court at Rock Creek Park, never giving Anderson a chance to get into the match.
One break in each set was enough for Zverev to enhance his burgeoning reputation as one of the game’s rising talents. He closed out the match in just under 70 minutes before accepting the enthusiastic applause from a near capacity crowd that included his parents and his dog.
Zverev joined Rafa Nadal as a four-time ATP winner this year. Only Roger Federer, with five, has captured more titles in 2017.
“It was a great match,” said the German, who started the week ranked eighth in the world. “I felt unbelievable starting from the quarterfinals and from then it got better and better every match I played.”
Zverev said the next goal in his career was to go deeper into the Grand Slams. “I’ve lost in five sets against Rafa, five sets against (Milos) Raonic,” he said. “At some stage I want to win those kinds of matches and get further in Grand Slams. The best I’ve done is fourth round, but I am not satisfied.”
In the women’s final, seventh seed Makarova came from a set behind for the third successive time to claim her first WTA title in more than three years and after being halted at the semifinals here three times.
Reuters
