Zverev beats Tiafoe to take Vienna title
Alexander Zverev beat American qualifier Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-4 in the final of the Vienna ATP tournament on Sunday to claim his fifth title of the year.
The German second seed ran his record since losing in the last 16 in Wimbledon in June to 25-2 as he won in one hour and 36 minutes. He has claimed all five finals that he has competed in this year with earlier titles coming in Acapulco, Madrid, the Olympic Games and Cincinnati.
Zverev broke in the fourth game of the first set but Tiafoe, the world number 49, immediately broke back. He found the breakthrough in the tense 12th game which he took after three deuces.
In the second set Zverev’s serve was rarely threatened as he produced eight aces, while he had break points against Tiafoe in the second and sixth games before finally making one count in the 10th game.
He then held to love to seal the victory.
Kontaveit wins in Transylvania, completes WTA Finals line-up
Anett Kontaveit defeated top seeded home hope Simona Halep to win the Transylvania Open on Sunday and secure a maiden spot in the season-ending WTA Finals.
The Estonian eased to a 6-2, 6-3 victory for a fourth title of 2021, all of them coming in the last 10 weeks.
As well as being the first player representing Estonia to make the year-ending championships, Kontaveit is projected to make her Top 10 debut in Monday’s rankings.
Sunday’s title added to her trophies this season at Cleveland, Ostrava and Moscow. Having won 26 of her last 28 matches, Kontaveit joins Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejcikova, Karolina Pliskova, Maria Sakkari, Iga Swiatek, Garbine Muguruza and Paula Badosa in the WTA Finals in Guadalajara next month.
Cilic wins in Saint Petersburg for 20th career title
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic defeated American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4 on Sunday to win the St Petersburg trophy and claim a 20th career title.
Cilic is just the sixth active player to pass the 20-trophy landmark, joining Roger Federer (103), Rafael Nadal (88), Novak Djokovic (85), Andy Murray (46) and Juan Martin del Potro (22).
Cilic, a former world number three, now ranked at 35, has collected four of his titles in Russia – the 2011 and 2021 crowns in St. Petersburg and back-to-back wins in Moscow in 2014-2015.
He was agonisingly close to a third in the Russian capital last weekend where he was runner-up to Aslan Karatsev.
Vekic ends four-year wait for third title at Courmayeur
Donna Vekic clinched a third career title on Sunday at Courmayeur in Italy, more than four years after her last trophy success.
The 97th-ranked Croatian defeated fifth-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in the final.
Vekic, 25, won her previous titles in Kuala Lumpur in 2014 and at Nottingham three years later.
With AFP Inputs
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