23 November,2021 09:32 AM IST | Italy | AFP
Alexander Zverev celebrates after defeating Daniil Medvedev in Turin on Sunday. Pics/Getty Images
Alexander Zverev captured his second ATP Finals title after producing a brilliant performance to defeat World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday's final in Turin.
Zverev, the Olympic singles gold medallist in Tokyo, won his tour-leading sixth trophy of the season and ended a run of five straight losses to defending champion Medvedev. The German third seed broke once in each set as he swept US Open winner Medvedev aside in 75 minutes to add to the season-ending crown he won in 2018.
"It was great, I won the ATP Finals against someone I'd lost to five times in a row so I had to play one of my best matches," said Zverev. "I'm happy with that and ready to go on holidays with this win now." Zverev will skip the Davis Cup finals to be played in Madrid, Turin and Innsbruck from November 25 to December 5.
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"There's no better way to end the season than winning here so obviously I'm incredibly happy. But I'm now very much looking forward to next year already," he said. "It's very special, I'm super thrilled and super happy right now."
Daniil Medvedev
An event this year missing both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the ATP Finals have proved the breakout stage for tennis' new generation with the Grand Slams still largely beyond their reach.
This first final since the tournament's relocation from London was also the first to feature two players aged 25 or younger since 2005. Zverev, conqueror of top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Saturday's semi-finals, stopped Medvedev from becoming the first player to retain the trophy since Djokovic won it four times in a row between 2012 and 2015.
"It's been a great season. It's not easy to get to the Masters final and for myself I was really happy to be here," said Medvedev.
Out of public view for almost three weeks, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has appeared in a video call with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
The IOC and the Chinese government would like this to be the end of the Peng saga, which has run since Nov. 2 when she accused former vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. That may be wishful thinking on their part.
The interview offered few details, no follow-ups on her allegations, and invited more questions for the IOC, Peng, and China. It seems unlikely to satisfy Steve Simon, the chairman and CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, who has been blunt in criticising China and has threatened to pull all top-tier WTA events from the country.
Even after the IOC video was published Sunday, the WTA repeated what Simon has been saying for more than a week, calling for a full, fair, and transparent investigation "without censorship."
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