By Chris Oddo | Saturday, July 19, 2014

 

David Ferrer ended the marvelous run of German wunderkind Alexander Zverev with a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing to reach the Hamburg final.

Photo Source: Bet-at-Home Open

Spain’s David Ferrer ended the terrific run of 17-year-old German Alexander Zverev at the Bet-at-Home Open in Hamburg, making short work of the shining prospect, 6-0, 6-1 in 56 minutes.

10 Things: Learn More about Alexander Zverev

The occasion proved to be too big for the first semifinalist on the ATP tour since 2006 in the early going, as Zverev made only one first serve in his first 14 service points. This made him easy picking for Ferrer, who broke early and often to advance into his 44th tour-level final, where he will face Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer.

Mayer worked his way past Philipp Kohlschreiber in Saturday’s first semifinal, breaking serve four times to notch a 7-5, 6-4 victory. The Argentine improves to 21-6 on the season, and will bid for his first career title on Sunday.

Zverev, who finished the day with three winners against 30 unforced errors against Ferrer, will rise inside the ATP’s top 200 when its rankings are released on Monday. He will be the first 17-year-old to crack the top 200 since Marin Cilic in 2006.

While the German showed throughout his breakout week that he may indeed have a bright future on the ATP Tour, he was no match for the 32-year-old Spaniard, even when he started to make a few first serves. Ferrer won 39 of 51 baseline points and 26 of 31 first serve points. Despite 19 unforced errors against only 13 winners, he managed to break serve on five of eight opportunities to race away with the victory.

Though it was a disappointing day for Zverev, the youngster can take comfort in the fact that he won his first four main draw matches and was one step away from becoming the youngest player to reach an ATP final since Rafael Nadal played the Auckland final in 2004.

As for Ferrer, he will bid to win the 22nd title of his illustrious career on Sunday when he meets Mayer in the final. Ferrer owns a 1-0 career record against Mayer, having defeated him at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2012 in straight sets.

The Spaniard will bid for his 285th career clay-court victory on Sunday, which is second among active players, behind only Rafael Nadal’s 318 wins on the surface.

Notes, Quotes:

The only active players to have reached an ATP semifinal at a younger age than Zverev's 17 years and three months are Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal.

According to ATP stats guru Greg Sharko, Zverev should top out at about 160 in the rankings next week.