By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday November 11, 2019
Defending champion Alexander Zverev raced out to an early lead over Rafael Nadal on Monday at the Nitto ATP Finals in London and never looked back.
The German earned his first career win over the Spaniard in six tries by notching a decisive 6-2 6-4 thumping that moves him to the top of the Andre Agassi group standings.
“Everybody probably knows how much I was struggling the whole season and this means so much,” Zverev said. “Playing here again after winning my biggest titles in my career here last year—this means everything to me.”
Zverev was in command from the start and the 2018 ATP Finals champion has now notched wins over the ATP's reigning World No.1 in back to back seasons at the O2 Arena. Last year he knocked off Novak Djokovic en route to his biggest career title but on Monday he did the Serb a favor by reeling in World No.1 Nadal and making the race for the ATP’s year-end No.1 ranking tighter.
Djokovic needs to reach at least the final in London to finish the season as the ATP’s top dog, but he did close the gap by 200 points on Nadal in the first two days of the tournament.
But it was Zverev who played like top dog on Monday, particularly from the service stripe. The German routinely hit serve speeds above 140 and was ruthless behind his first serve, winning 30 of 34 first-serve points. Zverev tossed in 11 aces in the 84-minute contest and never faced a break point.
Zverev improves to 44-23 on the season and seems eager to put the struggles that have characterized his up and down 2019 campaign behind him.
“The way the season went there was not always a lot of ups,” Zverev said. “I hope I can play my best tennis this week and we’ll see how it goes.”
He recorded three consecutive breaks against the Nadal serve to open up a 6-2 2-0 lead and when Nadal improved a bit from his lackluster start, Zverev answered the bell with decisive baseline play.
Nadal struggled with his forehand, pitching in just three winners off that wing against 13 unforced errors.
If there was good news to take away from the day for Nadal it was that the abdominal injury that he suffered in Paris is not bothering him in London.
“I did not feel pain in the abdominal at all,” Nadal said after the match. “We can find reasons or excuses, but at the end of the day, [what] really matters is I need to play much better in two days after tomorrow. That's the only thing.”
Zverev finished with 14 forehand winners against 12 unforced on that side, and the German struck 28 winners against 20 unforced in total.
In doubles action on Monday in London, Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies defeated Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau on their ATP Finals debut, 7-6(3) 4-6 10-6, while Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut knocked off the top-seeded duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, 6-3 7-5.
On Tuesday in London, Djokovic will continue his quest to reclaim the No.1 ranking when he faces Dominic Thiem in the evening match, while Roger Federer and Matteo Berrettini will each bid for their first win in the afternoon singles.
See the full schedule here: