Daniil Medvedev extended the fine form that has made him the most dominant player in recent months in men’s tennis, beating Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Shanghai tournament.
Medvedev thus takes his third title in six consecutive finals played since the tour returned to hard surfaces after Wimbledon in July. The Russian also won in Cincinnati and St. Petersburg in that section.
Last month, the Russian reached his first Grand Slam final, at the US Open, where he led Rafael Nadal to five sets before the Spaniard clinched the 19th biggest trophy of his career.
“It is something incredible what I have achieved in the last few months,” Medvedev said on the court after winning. “I would not have cinched it.”
The 23-year-old is now 29-3 in the last six tournaments.
Medvedev leads the season on the ATP circuit in four categories. More matches won, with 59, more matches won on hard courts, with 46, more won in Masters 1000 tournaments, with 22, and more finals, nine, with four titles.
Medvedev and Zverev, 22, are the youngest finalists in a Masters 1000 tournament since Novak Djokovic, then 22, beat Gael Monfils, 23, at the Paris tournament in 2009.
Zverev had won all four of his previous games with Medvedev, but all of them occurred before this year, in which the Russian has been almost invincible in recent months.
“As I said yesterday, you are probably the best player in the world right now and that is incredible,” Zverev told Medvedev at the trophy ceremony. “I wish you the best”. AFP