Decoding the astonishing run of Alexander Zverev in 2021
World number three Alexander Zverev, on Sunday, clinched his second ATP Finals title. He lifted the prestigious trophy in Turin after handing the world number two Daniil Medvedev a straight-set defeat. Zverev also won the year-end championships in 2018 after defeating Novak Djokovic. The former won a record-breaking sixth ATP title in the ongoing season. Here are his key stats.
Why does it matter?
Zverev has been the most prolific player in 2021. He has traveled the extra mile since clinching the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The German ended Djokovic's quest of winning the Golden Slam. At the ATP Finals, he stopped the world number one from securing his sixth title. Zverev ends the season with a perfect record in the finals.
Most match-wins and titles in 2021
Zverev won his 59th match of the season (59-15). He broke a tie with Medvedev (58 wins). The German won two Masters 1000 titles this year, in Cincinnati and Madrid. Besides clinching gold in Tokyo, Zverev also won in Vienna and Acapulco. Zverev finished with six titles, the most in the season. Notably, he has won 32 of his last 36 matches.
Zverev attains this historic feat
Zverev defeated Djokovic and Medvedev in the semi-final and final at the ATP Finals. He has become the fourth player to win the semi-final and final (ATP Finals) against the Top 2 players, after Ivan Lendl (1982), Stefan Edberg (1989), and Andre Agassi (1990).
Zverev ended winning streak of Medvedev
Zverev ended Medvedev's winning streak in the ATP Finals. The latter was unbeaten in the tournament since the start of the 2020 edition. Before the final, Zverev was win-less in the last five matches against Medvedev (2021 ATP Finals, 2021 Paris Masters, 2021 ATP Cup, 2020 ATP Finals, 2020 Paris Masters). Zverev last defeated Medvedev at the season-end championships in 2019 (round-robin stage).
A historic gold medal in Tokyo
Zverev secured the gold medal in Tokyo after defeating Karen Khachanov in the men's singles final. The former became only the second German to win Olympic singles gold after Steffi Graf (Seoul 1988 Olympics). As stated, Zverev downed Djokovic in the semi-final. The latter was vying to become only the second player (male or female) to win a Golden Slam.
Glory in Cincinnati!
Zverev won the Western and Southern Open after defeating Andrey Rublev. He became the first German champion in Cincinnati since Boris Becker in 1985. Further, Zverev became the first player to win this tournament and the Olympic singles gold in the same year since Andre Agassi in 1996. Interestingly, Zverev hadn't won a match in six previous appearances in Cincinnati.
