#NextGen Zverev To Go For First Title In St. Petersburg

Alexander Zverev will play for his first ATP World Tour title on Sunday after gaining his first win over Top 10 player Tomas Berdych on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Open. Zverev, a member of the ATP Next Generation, dismissed Berdych 6-4, 6-4 in their semi-final contest at Sibur Arena.

The 19-year-old German saved all four break points and landed 66 per cent of his first serves to advance to his third ATP World Tour final of the season and of his career. He has yet to capture a title yet, though, falling in three sets to Dominic Thiem in Nice and to Florian Mayer in Halle.

“I just needed to serve well in the first place, and I did. Then I had to play aggressively,” Zverev said. “Berdych is always trying to dictate the point, and I had to take it away from him. It worked.”

In St. Petersburg, Zverev, the 2015 ATP Star Of Tomorrow presented by Emirates, will try to become the first ATP World Tour teenage winner since 19-year-old Marin Cilic won New Haven in 2008. Zverev will face top seed Stan Wawrinka for the first time. The Swiss prevailed against fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(8), 6-2.

“He is in good shape,” Zverev said of Wawrinka. “We’ll see.”

Perhaps Zverev will break his final losing streak on Sunday. Before Saturday, the Hamburg native had been 0-4 against Berdych in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, which included two losses on indoor hard courts (Stockholm, 2015; Marseille, 2016). The 31-year-old Czech had also prevailed against Zverev during a five-set Davis Cup match earlier this season and at Wimbledon.

But Zverev, No. 27 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, just three spots below his career high, maintained his strong play in St. Petersburg this week even against World No. 9 Berdych. When the Czech right-hander sailed a forehand long on the second match point, Zverev improved to a perfect 8-0 in sets this week.

See how Zverev compares to the game’s best on the ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS.