Mischa Zverev beat Lukas Lacko 6-4 6-4 to claim his first ATP Tour title at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.
It has been a long, painful road for the German to get to this point. He suffered a fractured wrist, two fractured ribs, a herniated disc and a small tear of his patella tendon during a spell of injuries that seems hard to believe.
But now, aged 30, Zverev has his moment. “This is my favourite surface and I’m happy I could finally prove it,” Zverev said during an emotional on-court interview.
“It’s very special because even a couple of years ago I was ranked 1100 and I said, ‘I don’t want to quit before I win a title,’ and here I am.”
The German continued, “Seeing Roger play pretty well at the age of 36, he gives me hope that I still go on and play a couple more good tournaments.”
Zverev dominates on serve
Zverev served superbly throughout the final. He won 86% of points on his first serve and 59% behind his second. He also saved both the break points he faced in the match.
Such dominance on serve made the German’s task simple. All he needed to do to win the match was break Lacko once in each set, and that is exactly what he did.
Zverev broke the Slovakian in the opening game of the match and that had the effect of settling his nerves. He came through a tough third game on serve and then seemed untroubled as he served out the rest of the set.
The second set was tighter. Zverev almost broke Lacko in the third game, and then got the better of the Slovakian in a marathon fifth game. Remarkably, it took the German until his seventh break point before he finally took it.
However, it was definitely worth the wait, as Zverev clung onto his serve in the next game to establish a 4-2 lead, and then did not lose another point behind it as he finished off the match in style.
