Alexander Zverev won his sixth ATP Masters 1000 championship on Sunday, defeating Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-4, 7-5 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
It was the second career win at the tournament for Zverev, of Germany, who was 20 in 2017 when he captured his first trophy in Rome.
This victory was a sweet one for Zverev, who suffered a serious ankle injury while playing Rafael Nadal in the semifinals at the French Open in 2022. He hadn’t won a Masters 1000 event since Cincinnati in 2021.
“Obviously winning my first ever (Masters) here in Rome and winning my first after my injury also in Rome, so Rome is a very special place for me,” Zverev said. “It is a very, very special week.”
Zverev, the third seed, dropped only one set on the week.
Zverev had just five unforced errors compared to 17 for Jarry and won 95 percent (37/39) of the points on his first serve. He didn’t face a break point and capitalized on two of his nine opportunities to break Jarry, which proved the difference in the one hour, 41-minute match.
It was the 11th Masters 1000 final for Zverev and the first for Jarry, the 21st seed, who knocked out sixth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and 14th seed Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Zverev was complimentary toward his opponent.
“He is playing huge and you can see by the players he has beaten here this week,” Zverev said of Jarry. “Playing incredible tennis. I told him if he continues to play like that he will have many chances at this level. Today I am extremely happy to be the winner.”
Jarry has three ATP Tour wins, all at the 250 level.
Open Parc
Alexandre Muller defeated his French countryman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4 to the second round in Lyon, France.
He used 27 winners to top Gasquet at the ATP 250 event. Muller moved to 2-0 in his career against Gasquet.
In the next round, he’ll face the winner of a first-round match between Pavel Kotov of Russia and a lucky loser.
In the only other opening-round match of the day, Aleksandar Vukic of Australia beat Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-2. He will meet second-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the second round.
Gonet Geneva Open
Sebastian Baez open his pursuit of a third clay-court title of the season with a 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over Sumit Nagal of India in Switzerland.
The Argentine, the fifth seed in Geneva, won in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. Five of his six career championships have come on clay.
In the second round, he’ll face Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain, who defeated Daniel Altmaier of Germany 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Despite its status as an ATP 250-level tournament, the event has drawn two top players looking for some extra time on clay before the French Open begins next week. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia is the top seed, and Casper Ruud of Norway is No. 2.
–Field Level Media
