Only after winning the David Cup with Serbia in 2010 did Novak Djokovic truly come of age as a tennis player. Having led his country to a first victory in the international team competition, Djokovic went on a tear the following year, compiling one of the greatest seasons in the sport’s history as he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles. For a player whose only previous grand slam title had come in Melbourne in 2008, it was a sea change, one that Djokovic credited to the inspiration he drew from playing for something bigger than himself.
Could it be that the Novak effect is contagious? Following his semi-final win over Carlos Alcaraz at the Vienna Open, Alexander Zverev spoke of how beating Djokovic at the Olympics, where he went on to claim the gold medal for Germany, had infused him with fresh belief. Zverev, who brushed the young Spaniard aside in straight sets, says he now believes he can win any tournament he enters. His recent results – just two defeats since Wimbledon – would suggest that confidence is well-founded. It is hardly achievement on a scale to compare with Djokovic’s 2011 vintage, but it is impressive nonetheless. When it comes to inspiration, it would seem that what goes around, comes around.
The obvious quibble is that Zverev, 24, who beat his childhood friend Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-4 in the Austrian capital to claim his fifth title of the season, has yet to win his first grand slam; by the same age, Djokovic had won five. Yet Zverev’s consistency in the majors this season – including a first semi-final at Roland Garros and a five-set defeat to Djokovic at the same stage of the US Open – has been undeniable. Here, the German produced a performance of poise and maturity, serving imperiously and raising his level at the key moments to draw level with Casper Ruud – and ahead of Djokovic – as winner of the most titles this year.
Zverev landed a remarkable 82% of his first serves, winning four out of every five points when he did so, and it is indicative of Tiafoe’s excellence that, at the end of a week that brought victories over Stefanos Tsitsipas, Diego Schwartzman and Jannik Sinner, the outcome remained in doubt to the very end. The American conjured a wonderful array of strokes, trading heavyweight blows from the baseline, feathering drop shots, and volleying with subtlety and precision, and Zverev needed all his resolve to clinch an absorbing contest in straight sets.
“He didn’t let me play the way I wanted to play, tactically he was very good,” said Zverev, who will compete at next week’s Paris Masters before travelling to Turin for the season-ending ATP Finals. “But I am happy with the win, and I am happy with my fifth title of the year, and I am happy with my first in Vienna, so it was a good day.”
There was much mutual warmth between the players afterwards. As they awaited the trophy presentation, the pair sat chatting and laughing. The badinage continued into the post-match speeches, both of which were punctuated by some choice language that, while it may have offended some, brought a welcome touch of authenticity to the hackneyed exchange of pleasantries normally associated with such occasions. “I want to congratulate Sasha,” said Tiafoe, before looking over to the German, who he has known since their junior days, and adding with a mischievous grin: “Can’t fucking stand you.”
Tiafoe, who went on to say that he expects Zverev to win “a ton of grand slams” and become world No 1, hailed what he described as “the best week I’ve had in my career”. “So far,” came the caveat from Zverev, who said that, since assembling a team headed by Wayne Ferreira, the former world No 6, Tiafoe has been “playing incredible tennis”. “You’ve been improving every single week, you’re going to climb up the rankings extremely fast I think – if you keep your shit together,” cautioned Zverev.
Over the past week, at least, that is something that Tiafoe, the first qualifier to reach the Vienna final in almost a decade, has done admirably. He is learning to play winning tennis while remaining true to his character. While the showboating of which Tiafoe has occasionally been guilty – and which would surely be anathema to Ferreira, who as a player eked every last ounce out of his talent – has been notably absent, the showmanship that comes so naturally to him has remained. Engaging with the crowd, making quips to his opponents, strutting his finger-wagging stuff after each fine shot – and there were plenty against Zverev – the charismatic Tiafoe is fast emerging as a less snarly version of Jimmy Connors, the game’s ultimate showman. All he needs now is the results to match.
“I knew I was capable of a week like this,” said Tiafoe. “It is not easy to beat good player after good player. These guys are so good. To have a week like this and know you can do it – and beat not just one top player but three great guys – is great.”
Forced to battle for six minutes simply to hold his opening service game, Tiafoe was broken at the second time of asking, compounding his own difficulties with a double fault on break point. Having asked to see a replay of his second serve, which missed by a distance, he jokingly asked Zverev, who was waiting to serve: “Are you calling that ball long?”
Was there design in his drollery? If Tiafoe was trying to break whatever tension he was feeling, or throw Zverev out of his deadly service rhythm, it worked. Firing a lunging forehand return for a winner to capitalise on some ferocious work from the baseline, the American broke back immediately, winning nine consecutive points.
Zverev remained implacable, steadying the ship with a solid hold before putting Tiafoe on the back foot with some blazing forehand winners as he served to stay in the set at 5-6. The American fought gamely, saving a set point with a penetrating first serve, but when a forehand approach went narrowly wide on the second, Zverev was firmly in the driving seat. Tiafoe continued to press hard and, in the ninth game of the second set, he denied Zverev two game points, first with a brilliant running pass and then with a backhand pick-up that, loaded with sidespin, utterly bamboozled the German. Once again, however, Zverev was unmoved. He closed out the game and then broke to love, stroking a majestic backhand return up the line on match point. Djokovic himself could hardly have done it better.
“The Olympics gave me a lot of confidence and I believe I can compete for any title that I play in,” said Zverev. “I am happy with the form I am in, but I’ve got two more massive weeks ahead of me and I hope I can do well.”
Elsewhere, Marin Cilic won the St Petersburg Open with a 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Taylor Fritz. “A great mental battle from my side,” said Cilic, the world No 28, a beaten finalist in Moscow last week. “It obviously helps so much for my confidence, end of the season, playing this well.”
Anett Kontaveit claimed her fourth title of the year with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Simona Halep in the final of the Transylvania Open. With the win, the Estonian moves up to a career-high ranking of eighth in the world and qualifies for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, clinching the final spot ahead of Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
“I believe in myself a little bit more than I did a couple of years ago, and I was trying to be aggressive but also stay consistent, and not go for too much,” said Kontaveit, who had never previously beaten the Romanian. “I think she is such a good player, and I really tried just to focus on myself and not think about the three times that I had lost to her. I just took it as a new challenge.”
Donna Vekic defeated Clara Tauson, the fifth seed, 7-6 (7-3,) 6-2 to win the Courmayeur Ladies Open. The Croatian won her first title in more than four years without dropping a set.