Sinner captures second Vienna title, outclasses Zverev in a physically demanding contest

VIENNA(Austria):The world number two Jannik Sinner continued his brilliant run this year, outclassing the German star Alexander Zverev to secure his second Vienna Open title on Sunday.

The top seed defeated Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to capture the title once again after 2023, making a brilliant comeback from being one set down, digging deep, and overcoming an impressive start from his opponent. The match, which lasted two hours and 29 minutes, saw Sinner walking away with his 21st tour-level crown.

“It feels amazing,” said Sinner as quoted by ATP’s official website, continuing his 21-match win streak on indoor hard courts.

“It was such a difficult start in this final for me. I went a break down, had some chances in the first set but could not use them. He was serving very well, but I just tried to stick there mentally and play my best tennis when it came.”

“The third set was a bit of a rollercoaster, but I was feeling the ball very well at times, so I tried to push and I am very happy of course to win another title. It is very special,” he concluded.

Zverev struck the ball cleanly off both wings during the early stages of the match and got the opening break in the fourth game, and Sinner was moving slowly, limping in between points. Zverev won the first set, but Sinner shook off all difficulties to secure the second one.

During the seventh game of the decider set, Sinner struggled with left hamstring camps, but some pickle juice and that extra tinge of aggression shortened the rallies, letting him get the advantage slowly before he earned an all-important break for 6-5 at set three and never looked back after that to win his fourth title of the season.

This improved his ATP head-to-head battle with Zverev to 4-4. He joined the elite company of legends Roger Federer and Andy Murray to have two Vienna titles.

“It was very difficult, of course,” said Sinner about his struggles in set three. “The most important thing was not to give up and try to stay there. Try to see what the situation was. I just tried to make the right choices at the right time. I think that was the key today. Serving well and saving energy in my service games was important too,” he added.

Now having a win-loss record of 48-6 this season, the 24-year-old will be all fired up for the Paris Masters and the season-ending ATP finals. (ANI)