Alexander Zverev beats Daniil Medvedev to win 2021 ATP Finals
World number three, Alexander Zverev, has been crowned champion of the 2021 ATP Finals after outplaying Daniil Medvedev in what turned out to be a one-sided grand finale. The German defeated Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 to win his second ATP Finals title. Zverev has clinched his sixth ATP trophy of the season, the most by a player this year. Here are the key stats.
Zverev has ended Medvedev's winning streak in the ATP Finals. The latter was unbeaten in the tournament since the start of the 2020 edition. He became the first undefeated champion after beating Dominic Thiem in the final. Notably, the Russian was the only unbeaten player in this edition before the finale. He even overcame Zverev in the round-robin stage.
In the opening match, Zverev received a walk-over from Matteo Berrettini. The German then lost to Medvedev before defeating Hubert Hurkacz to qualify for the semi-finals. In the semis, Zverev beat world number one Novak Djokovic. After beating second seed Medvedev, he has become the fourth player to win the semi-final and final (ATP Finals) against the Top 2 players.
Medvedev was vying for his second consecutive ATP Finals title. He was 9-0 in the tournament before the final. Interestingly, the Russian lost his first three matches to Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rafael Nadal, and Zverev at the ATP Finals in 2019.
Zverev won his 59th match of the season (59-15). He now owns the most ATP Tour match-wins, breaking a tie with Medvedev. The German won two Masters 1000 titles this year in Cincinnati and Madrid. In August, Zverev achieved the biggest win of his career by clinching gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Notably, Zverev has won 32 of his last 36 matches.
As far as the head-to-head record is concerned, Zverev and Medvedev are now at par (6-6). Interestingly, Zverev was win-less in the last five matches against Medvedev (2021 ATP Finals, 2021 Paris Masters, 2021 ATP Cup, 2020 ATP Finals, 2020 Paris Masters). Before this win, Zverev last defeated Medvedev at the season-end championships in 2019 (round-robin stage).
It is interesting to note that both finalists, Zverev and Medvedev, are under 25. It is the first such instance since 2005 when David Nalbandian (23) defeated Roger Federer (24) in Shanghai. Also, former champions met in the summit clash of the ATP Finals for the first time since the 2015 edition in London (Novak Djokovic defeated Federer).
[3] @AlexZverev defeats [2] #Medvedev 6-4 6-4 to earn his 2nd #NittoATPFinals trophy and personal-best 6th title this season. #Zverev never faced break point en route to his @ATPTour-leading 6th title and 59th win of the season.
— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) November 21, 2021
