ATP Tour

Zverev’s first title: The breakthrough that launched a decade at the top

Alexander Zverev has enjoyed a career-best season. After previous major final heartbreak, the German finally won his first Grand Slam title at this year’s Roland Garros before backing up that triumph at the US Open, where he became just the fourth player in the Open Era (since 1968) to follow his first major title with his second in the same year.

The 29-year-old is now firmly in the battle for World No. 1: He currently leads the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, which serves as a barometer for ATP Year-End No. 1 honours.

But Zverev’s journey to the top of the sport truly kicked into gear 10 years ago. On this day in 2016, a 19-year-old Zverev lifted his maiden tour-level trophy at the ATP 500 event in St. Petersburg.

Arriving at the hard-court tournament, Zverev was already inside the Top 30 of the PIF ATP Rankings and had provided plenty of evidence of his potential. Earlier that season, he reached the fourth round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, where he pushed Rafael Nadal deep into a deciding set before falling 7-5 in the third.

Zverev had also won multiple matches at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and reached his first two ATP Tour finals in Nice and Halle. Dominic Thiem denied him on the clay in Nice before Zverev stunned Roger Federer in the Halle semi-finals, only to lose to Florian Mayer in the championship match.

In St. Petersburg, Zverev ensured it would be third time lucky.

The teenager opened with victory against Karen Khachanov before facing another player who would become a familiar rival, Daniil Medvedev.

It was the first chapter of what has since developed into a riveting Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry. The pair has now met 22 times, with Medvedev leading 14-8, but on that day in St. Petersburg it was Zverev who prevailed 6-3, 7-5.

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Further straight-sets victories followed against experienced home favourite Mikhail Youzhny and then-World No. 9 Tomas Berdych, sending Zverev into his third final of the season. His biggest challenge, however, was still to come.

Waiting across the net was World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, fresh from winning the US Open just two weeks earlier. The Swiss arrived in the final on a 10-match winning streak and, perhaps even more dauntingly, had won his previous 11 tour-level finals dating back to Chennai in January 2014.

None of that stopped Zverev from flying out of the blocks. The German took the opening set before Wawrinka responded, and when the three-time major champion moved 3-0 ahead in the decider, Zverev's breakthrough appeared to be slipping away.

Instead, the teenager fought back.

With the pair locked at 5-5, Zverev stayed with Wawrinka through a gruelling 21-shot baseline exchange before the Swiss sent a forehand wide, handing Zverev the decisive break. One hold later, the German had sealed a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory in two hours and 23 minutes and the first ATP Tour title of his career.

“This victory is something special,” Zverev said. “I played all the finals well. I lost to Dominic Thiem on clay and I could have won against Florian Mayer on the grass... Now I'm very happy with the win, especially over such a great player like Stan.”

The victory carried historical significance, too. Zverev became the first teenage ATP Tour titlist since 19-year-old Marin Cilic triumphed in New Haven in 2008. By defeating World No. 9 Berdych in the semi-finals and World No. 3 Wawrinka in the final, he also became the first player to capture his maiden ATP Tour title with back-to-back Top 10 victories since Albert Portas won the 2001 Hamburg crown.

Zverev went on to capture five titles in 2017, including his first two ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Rome and Montreal, where he defeated Novak Djokovic and Federer, respectively, in the finals. Zverev climbed as high as World No. 3 that season and qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

A decade on from that breakthrough week in St. Petersburg, Zverev has become a two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion and established himself as one of the defining players of his generation. He has already booked his place at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals, which will mark his ninth appearance at the season finale. And as he heads to Turin following the most successful season of his career, the German is once again chasing significant silverware.