Germany’s Alexander Zverev clinched his first title in over a year at Cologne while Russian Andrey Rublev went level with Novak Djokovic as a four-time title winner in 2020 with the St Petersburg Open trophy on Sunday. Serbia’s Laslo Djere also won his second ATP title in the Sardinia Open.
US Open runner-up Zverev beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3, his third ATP Tour win on home soil as third seed Auger-Aliassime lost his sixth successive final.
“I had a very tough final in New York and the next final I played here I wanted to come out and obviously play my best tennis, finish the match,” 23-year-old Zverev said.
“Felix, you’re an unbelievable player. I know it doesn’t mean much right now, but I’m sure you are not only going to win one title, you’re going to win multiple, multiple titles in your career, bigger titles than this,” he added.
Auger-Aliassime, 20, overcame second seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-final but failed to repeat his performance against Zverev.
His run of losses stretches back to his first ATP final in February 2019 at the Rio Open.
“I just played bad from start to finish,” Auger-Aliassime said.
Zverev will also be top seed for next week’s Cologne Championships tournament where he is joined in the draw by French Open semi-finalist Diego Schwartzman and Auger-Aliassime who will be fifth seed.
Rublev joins Djokovic as four-time champion in 2020
Rublev continued his superb form in 2020 as he defeated Borna Coric 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the final. The 22-year-old added the title in Russia to trophies in Doha, Adelaide and Hamburg.
Only world No 1 Djokovic can boast of a similar haul from the truncated season.
Rublev extended his winning streak to 10 matches on home soil, having lifted the Kremlin Cup trophy in Moscow last year. The world No 10 also boosted his hopes of reaching the ATP Finals for the first time.
With just two places left in the eight-man field for the London season finale, Rublev is 249 points ahead of Diego Schwartzman, who currently occupies the final qualification position.
Serbian Djere wins second ATP title in Sardinia Open
Serbia’s Laslo Djere ousted home hope Marco Cecchinato in two sets to win his second ATP title in the Sardinia Open.
Djere, 25, won 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 against the Italian wildcard, having also previously won on clay in Rio de Janeiro last year.
The 74th-ranked Serb held off a fightback from 28-year-old Cecchinato in the second set to win through after 2hr 19min.
“It’s tough losing a final but I leave here with so many positive things because now I am coming back to the Top 100,” said Cecchinato, the 2018 French Open semi-finalist.
The former world No 16 had been bidding for his fourth career title.
The tournament was the final on clay in a season which has been thrown into turmoil because of the coronavirus pandemic. Top-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini was forced to pull out on Wednesday after testing positive for Covid-19.
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