By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, August 4, 2018
Defending champion Alexander Zverev pounded out a 6-2, 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas to sprint into his second straight Citi Open final.
Photo credit: @CitiOpen
Absorbing the sting of Alexander Zverev's heavy shots left a frustrated Stefanos Tsitsipas swinging back with a fury—at himself on the changeover.
The top-seeded Zverev beat Tsitsipas to the punch leaving the 19-year-old Greek punching himself in the forehead in frustration.
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Punishing his groundstrokes, Zverev did not face a break point pummeling Tsitsipas, 6-2, 6-4, to roar into his second straight Washington, DC final.
It is the fifth final of the season for Zverev, who will play for his ninth career title in tomorrow's final.
Zverev scored his ninth straight win at Rock Creek Park, raising his record to an ATP-best 40-11.
For the first time in tournament history, all four semifinalists are 21-years-older or younger, which Zverev sees as a sign of changing times.
"Look, I mean the young guys are gonna come up naturally," Zverev told Tennis Channel's Justin Gimelstob afterward. "We have a great group of [young] guys. You can see it this week. This is one of the biggest tournaments we have and I'm the oldest guy here.
"This is amazing to see for tennis that the younger guys are coming through with the older guys and everyone's getting better."
The 21-year-old Zverev—the oldest of the four semifinalists—will face 19-year-old Aussie Alex de Minaur in the final.
De Minaur fought off four match points in the second-set tie break, roaring back from 2-6 down in the breaker to battle past Andrey Rublev, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4, in a two hour, 51-minute thriller that was the longest match of the tournament.
The 20-year-old Rublev saved three match points in the final game before clanking his fifth double fault off the tape to end it.
On a hot and sticky afternoon, Zverev set the tone for this semifinal crowding the baseline and blasting deeper drives from the start of his first encounter with the talented Tsitsipas.
The lanky Greek deconstructed David Goffin in yesterday's quarterfinals, but often found himself pushed back into the Washington, DC sign behind the baseline against the flat strikes of Zverev.
The Madrid champion cracked 25 winners against 15 unforced errors compared 17 winners and 19 errors from Tsitsipas.
Streaking inside the baseline, Zverev zapped a backhand swing volley for break point in the third game.
The 10th-seeded Tsitsipas was hit with a foot fault then spun a double fault into net gifting the opening break. Zverev quickly confirmed it for 3-1.
The defending champion stamped love holds in two of his first three service games taking charge.
Serving for one-set lead, Zverev worked through a deuce game. Tsitsipas showed stubborn spirit bolting a backhand pass down the line to save a second set point.
Undaunted, Zverev slid a wide serve for set point number three then zapped a 127 mph rocket that skipped over his opponent's Wilson racquet sealing the 34-minute opening set.
Rather than stagger himself punch drunk, that changeover self beat-down seemed to fire up Tsitsipas for the second set.
"I saw that," Zverev said of Tsitsipas channeling Mikhail Youzhny with his shots to the noggin. "I saw him hitting himself. I've never see that before. I'm not going to be doing that to myself."
Striking cleaner shots, Tsitsipas stayed in step throughout the first eight games of the second.
Then the Greek delivered a show-stopping shot as Tsitsipas went airborne for a spectacular diving backhand volley winner during a grueling 15-minute game.
Scraping himself up off the court to a rousing ovation from fans, Tsitsipas wiped some blood off his right elbow then went back to face the fire emanating from the champion.
Zverev continued crunching flat drives earning three break points along the way in a nine deuce marathon.
Finally, a big backhand brought the 6'6" German a fourth break point and when Tsitsipas netted a forehand, Zverev had the lone break of the second set for 5-4.
"Even though I had the few chances before I broke him, I had a few groundstroke rallies, I just knew I had to stay in," Zverev told Tennis Channel's Justin Gimelstob. "I saw he was getting a little bit tired. I think the heat helped me in this case.
"He's a great player. He's a great talent. I think we're gonna play way more times, way bigger tournaments. So I think this is the beginning for both of us."
A twisting ace brought Zverev to triple match point.
On his second match point, the top seed closed in 88 minutes on a netted backhand return and will play for his third title of the year tomorrow.