Alexander (Sascha) Zverev is in the news for beating Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 to take home the Citi Open title in Washington. This latest title has also made him the youngest player since Juan Martin Del Potro, in 2008, to have won 4 titles in a year. This year he also took down Novak Djokovic to win his first Masters 1000 tournament.
Zverev's beginnings on the ATP circuit
Alexander Zverev stopped playing the junior circuit in July 2014. He was the top ranked junior back then. His rise in the professional rankings has been rapid, and he had raced into the top 100 in 2015, and by the end of October 20, 2016, he was the youngest player since Djokovic, in 2006, in the ATP top 20 list.
In 2016 he took a few noteworthy scalps of World number 13 Marin Cilic in the second round of Open Sud de France in Montpelier, Grigor Dimitrov and Gilles Simon in Indian Wells, Roger Federer in Halle, and Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka in St. Petersburg Open to win his first ever ATP title.
Zverev's playing style
Alexander Zverev is a strong baseliner with an effective two-handed backhand. He uses his tall height to deliver booming first and second serves and, unlike Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, has solid work ethics and unshakable dedication to the sport. His weakness, which may prevent him from evolving as a player at later stages in his career, is his reluctance to move forward towards the net to end points, and this habit is tough to develop as one matures as a player.
The year 2017 and beyond for Alexander Zverev
2017 has been a charm for Zverev, so far he won his first title by taking down Richard Gasquet in the finals at the Open de Sud France and the second one by beating Guido Pella at the BMW Open in Germany. He became the first player born in the 1990s to win a Masters title when he overcame Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Italian Open in Rome.
Now with the Citi Open, his fourth title of the year, where he not only beat Kevin Anderson in the final but also, the world number 9, Kei Nishikori in the semifinal, he has firmly established himself as a force to be feared on all surfaces.
In about two years since his debut on the professional circuit, he has won tournaments on clay, hard, and grass courts and beaten many in the top ten in rankings while he is himself ranked 8 in the ATP.
The next steps for him would be to reach the finals of a slam and then eventually win one.
What else would it take to declare that this kid is already here as the man to beat now and not next gen, or the new kid in town, anymore?
