German ace Alexander Zverev has won 24 ATP titles, and remarkably none of them have come on the grass surface. He had a chance on Sunday in Stuttgart to win his first grass title. The German was up against American Taylor Fritz in the BOSS Open final but couldn’t get the job done. The American was ruthless in his approach and claimed the match in two convincing sets. The final score read 6-3 7-6.
Zverev’s previous grass court finals
A fact to note here was that this wasn’t Zverev’s first opportunity to lift his maiden grass title. He previously has also reached a couple of finals on the surface. However, the German could not get the job done on those occasions as well. His first final on the surface was back in 2016 in Halle, where he came up against fellow German Florian Mayer. Mayer won the first set 6-2 only for Zverev to level it by winning the next one 7-5. Mayer then upscaled his game as he rather comfortably clinched the third set 6-3. His next appearance in a grass final was the following year again in Halle. This time he faced a more pedigreed player in Roger Federer. A record 10-time Halle winner, the German was no match to the Swiss in that final. Federer blew him away 6-1 6-3 in little more than an hour’s time.
Many felt the recently concluded BOSS Open could be third time lucky for Zverev. However, Fritz had other plans as he denied the German a maiden title on grass yet again. Remarkably, Fritz has beaten Zverev in each of their last five encounters. The American has the wood of the German as of now and it will be interesting to see if we get a rematch between the two at the Wimbledon Championships this year.
Alexander Zverev will now take on another American Marcos Giron in his first round match at this week’s Halle Open.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
