Alexander Zverev backed up his Olympic triumph with a fifth ATP Masters 1000 title as he crushed Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 in Cincinnati on Sunday.
The German needed less than an hour against his longtime childhood friend and rival to lift the trophy and put himself into a solid position with the US Open starting a week from Monday.
“The US Open starts in a week’s time, so obviously I want to keep it up and I want to maybe play even better there,” Zverev said. Zverev showed no effects from the stomach discomfort which forced him to take a medical timeout during his draining semi-final victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.
Zverev won his 11th match in a row and his fifth against Rublev, a player he’s been playing since their junior days.
The German came into the week with six defeats in prior Cincinnati appearances, but turned that negative on its head.
“My first win here was on Wednesday and now I’m holding the title four days later,” he said.
“It’s been an incredible week, I had a lot of great matches. It’s a great feeling going into the Open.”
Zverev kept his unforced error count to just six, though he was out-aced by Rublev 11 to six.
The third seed produced 16 winners and broke Rublev five times.Zverev’s only minor hiccup came as he was broken while serving for victory leading 5-2 in the second set. But he closed out the convincing win a game later with a timely break back as Rublev found the net with a return.
“Until the end I was playing pretty good tennis,” Zverev said. “I didn’t do a big celebration at the net since Andrey and I have been best friends since we were 11 or 12.
“With my Olympic gold and this fifth Masters I’m really looking forward to New York.”
The victory saw the German leapfrog Rafael Nadal to take fourth spot in the new ATP rankings released yesterday.
Zverev will take an 11-match winning streak into the U.S. Open but still rates Novak Djokovic as favourite to take the title at Flushing Meadow.
Zverev came up just short of landing his first Grand Slam title in New York when he lost the final to Dominic Thiem last year but said his preparations this season had been very different.
“I was still finding my game during the US Open last year, but it worked well for me,” the 24-year-old told reporters after the final. “I was pretty close to winning it. But I’m looking forward to what’s in it for me this year, and we’ll see how it is once I arrive there.
“I’m looking forward to it because I know where I stand, I know how I’m playing, and I hope I can continue the work and hopefully play even better in New York.”
The absence of Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal from the US Open presents a good chance for one of the young guns in men’s tennis to snare a Grand Slam title.
World number one Novak Djokovic, who will be chasing a calendar Grand Slam when the season’s last major gets underway on Aug. 30, is a considerable roadblock to those ambitions, according to Zverev. “I do think that he’s still the favourite,” the Olympic champion added.
“I do think he’s going to be playing incredible tennis there. He’s going to be fresh, and I think there is also other guys that are in very good form. “Let’s see how it goes ... I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I have to find my rhythm in New York as well.”