Medvedev beats Zverev to win his 1st Paris Masters final

Daniil Medvedev received the Paris Masters for the primary time by beating Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 Sunday for his eighth profession title and third at a Masters occasion.

The third-seeded Russian secured simply his second win in opposition to the fourth-seeded Zverev in seven matches, and his earlier victory in opposition to the imposing German was additionally in a Masters ultimate final 12 months in Shanghai.

“I’m sure we’ll play many more matches together. We’ve known each other since we were 10, it’s great the journey we’re having,” Zverev stated. “I hope I can do even better next year.”

It was Medvedev’s first ultimate and title of the 12 months, whereas Zverev was enjoying in his third straight ultimate after profitable back-to-back tournaments in Cologne, Germany.

The battle between first-time finalists right here and the final two U.S. Open runners-up went with serve — and with no break factors — till Zverev broke Medvedev within the 12th recreation to take the opening set.

When Medvedev hit a forehand lengthy on that time, Zverev set free a loud roar that pierced the silence at a Bercy Arena left empty by the coronavirus pandemic.

Medvedev’s relentless accuracy from the baseline induced a unfastened shot from Zverev within the ninth recreation of the second set when he hit lengthy from the again of the court docket. Medvedev’s pinpoint returning is among the many greatest on the ATP Tour, and that chipped away at Zverev’s confidence as he received solely 57% of factors on first serve in comparison with 75% for Medvedev.

Medvedev held to like and clinched the second set together with his 13th ace, then took management when Zverev padded a weak forehand into the online and was damaged to like. After Zverev missed 4 break-point probabilities within the subsequent recreation, he was punished when Medvedev broke him for a 3-Zero lead.

“At the end of the second set I was tired. I was dead. The third set was always going to be very difficult for me,” Zverev stated. “Once you get a little bit tired against him, he wears you down. He wears you down even more. He makes you run, he makes you move. He’s very composed.”

Medvedev clinched the victory on his second match level when Zverev double-faulted for the third time within the match.

They might meet once more on the season-ending ATP Finals in London from Nov. 15-22.

“We will see how it goes with London. I’m happy with my tennis,” Zverev stated. “I just need to maybe recover a little bit physically.”