(Reuters) – German Alexander Zverev used his dominant serve to claim a fourth ATP title of the year with a commanding 6-4 6-4 win over South African veteran Kevin Anderson at the Citi Open in Washington on Sunday.
The 20-year-old fifth seed made only seven unforced errors and did not face a break point on the super-fast outdoor hardcourt at Rock Creek Park, never giving Anderson a chance to get into the match.
One break in each set was enough for Zverev to enhance his burgeoning reputation as one of the game’s rising talents.
He closed out the match in just under 70 minutes before accepting the enthusiastic applause from a near capacity crowd that included his parents and his dog.
Zverev joined Rafa Nadal as a four-time ATP winner this year. Only Roger Federer, with five, has captured more titles in 2017.
Zverev won his fifth career title and improved his career record against Anderson to 3-0.
“It was a great match,” said the German, who started the week ranked eighth in the world.
“I felt unbelievable starting from the quarter-finals and from then it got better and better every match I played.”
The only time Zverev was pushed all week came in the second round, when he edged Australian Jordan Thompson in a third set tiebreak.
But he improved as the tournament progressed and a severe case of jet lag subsided, and did not lose another set in his final four matches.
Zverev said the next goal in his career was to go deeper into the grand slams.
“I’ve lost in five sets against Rafa, five sets against (Milos) Raonic,” he said.
“At some stage I want to win those kind of matches and get further in grand slams.
“The best I’ve done is fourth round. I know I still have to improve a lot to be able to go far in the big tournaments.”
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Ken Ferris)
