Alexander Zverev beats Novak Djokovic and pulls off biggest new wave upset with ATP Finals win

The takeover by the much-vaunted next generation has a long way to go but 21-year-old Alexander Zverev struck the biggest blow yet for the new wave when he beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 here in London on Sunday to deny his 31-year-old opponent a record-equalling sixth triumph in the year-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Zverev followed up his victory over Roger Federer on Saturday by delivering the finest performance of his career and becoming the youngest winner of this title since Djokovic claimed it for the first time in 2008. He is also the first German champion since Boris Becker in 1995.

“This is the biggest title of my career so far,” Zverev said afterwards. “This trophy means a lot, everything, to all the players. You only have so many chances of winning it. You play against the best players only.How I played today, how I won it, for me it's just amazing.”

Djokovic, who had been aiming to equal Federer’s mark of six year-end titles and to break his record as the oldest winner of the tournament, had utterly dominated the latter half of this season, winning Wimbledon and the US Open and reclaiming the world No 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal, but this looked like a match too far for the Serb, who admitted afterwards that he has not been in the best of health lately.

Zverev, long regarded as the best of the next generation, had already established his credentials by winning three Masters Series titles, but his repeated disappointments in Grand Slam tournaments had un raised doubts about whether he had it in him to succeed at the very highest level.

Might Ivan Lendl prove to be the man who turns Zverev into a Grand Slam champion, as he did Andy Murray? Zverev recruited Lendl to his coaching team this summer, though the first person the German went to embrace after this victory was his father, Alexander senior, who has coached him from an early age.

“My dad is the one that taught me the game of tennis,” Zverev said.“Obviously Ivan, with the experience he has on and off the court, is amazing. That helped me, as well, to play the two matches that I’ve just played back-to-back.”

There have been times since the start of Wimbledon when Djokovic has looked all but unstoppable, but this was an insipid performance by the world No 1. Since losing to Marin Cilic in the final at Queen’s Club in June, Djokovic has lost only three matches, but all of them have been against members of the younger generation in Karen Khachanov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and now Zverev.

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Zverev beat Djokovic at his own game as he ground down his opponent with the relentless consistency of his ball-striking. The German served superbly, showed a willingness to attack the net and hit his volleys with confidence and precision.

Djokovic went into the final having not been broken in any of his 36 service games here, but Zverev, returning superbly, broke him four times. Djokovic made uncharacteristic mistakes, particularly in the latter stages, in what was a total turnaround from the meeting of the two men in the round-robin stage, when Zverev won only five games.

Twenty-four hours after sections of the crowd booed Zverev following his victory over Federer, when the German halted a point because a ball boy had dropped a ball, he proved a popular champion.

Zverev said he had not known what to expect from the crowd. “Yesterday I felt like I had done everything right, to be honest, by the rules and how it should have been, but the crowd reaction wasn’t too good to me,” he said. “Today the mindset was that I just wanted to enjoy being out there, I just wanted to enjoy competing and playing against the best player in the world.”

Neither player had looked in any trouble until Djokovic served at 3-4 in the opening set. From 30-30 he made two successive unforced forehand errors to drop his serve for the first time. In the following game Zverev hit three successive aces, netted a forehand on his first set point but converted the second when Djokovic hit a forehand beyond the baseline.

The statistics at the end of the first set told their own story of Zverev’s remarkable serving performance. The German dropped only four points on his serve and put 21 of his 24 first serves in court.

Djokovic was in trouble again in the first game of the second set. A service winner saved Zverev’s first break point, but on the second Djokovic lost the sort of point you would always expect him to win as his opponent worked himself into a position of strength before cracking a forehand winner.

Zverev immediately handed back the initiative by dropping serve with his only loose game of the match, but it was the most temporary of blips. When Djokovic served at 1-1 and 15-15 he netted a forehand at the end of a 27-stroke rally, after which he looked exhausted. Playing an ill-advised drop shot, which he netted, in the next rally indicated that he was feeling the pace and another missed forehand handed Zverev a second break.

Serving at 3-5, Djokovic went 15-40 down with a loose backhand, saved a first match point with a service winner, but then saw Zverev complete his victory with a majestic backhand winner down the line. Zverev fell to the floor in celebration before Djokovic came over to embrace him.

Djokovic, who said that Zverev deserved his victory, was later asked if his extraordinary efforts in the last half of the year had caught up with him. “Maybe a little bit,” he said. “Health-wise I haven’t been really perfect in the last three or four weeks.”

Meanwhile Mike Bryan became the competition’s oldest doubles champion when he partnered Jack Sock to a 5-7, 6-1, 13-11 victory over France’s Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Bryan, aged 40, had won the title on four previous occasions with his twin brother, Bob, who has been out of action since May with a hip problem. Mike Bryan and Sock also won Wimbledon and the US Open this summer.