Alexander Zverev beat Jannik Sinner 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 after 1 hour and 48 minutes in the semifinal of the bett1 HULKS Championships to get through to the 21st ATP Tour final of his career.
Sinner broke serve on his fourth chance in the third game from 0-40 down to take a 2-1 lead, after Zverev made a forehand error and sent his backhand passing shot into the tramelines. Sinner held serve at 15 to open up a 4-1 lead. Zverev came back by winning four consecutive games with two consecutive breaks to take a 5-4 lead. Sinner broke straight back to draw level to 5-5 after Zverev made a double fault. Zverev broke serve in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. Sinner broke back for the third time to draw level to 6-6 forcing the first set to the tie-break after two double faults from Zverev.
Both players traded mini-breaks at the start of the tie-break. The German earned his second two mini-breaks on the fourth and eighth points to win the tie-break 7-3 after Sinner made a forehand error on the second set point.
Sinner dropped three consecutive points from 40-30 in the second game of the second set. Zverev broke serve, as Sinner made an error at the net on the break point. Sinner saved a double break point at 1-4 30-40 and held his serve after two deuces. The Italian player wasted two break-back points in the seventh game. Zverev served out the win on his first match point with an ace.
Zverev won 82 % of his first serve points in the second set. The German player is bidding to win his second title in a row in Cologne in as many weeks after clinching his bett1 HULKS Indoors trophy.
Zverev avenged his fourth-round defeat against Sinner at Roland Garros. Sinner beat James Duckworth, Pierre Hugues Herbert and Giles Simon to reach his first ATP Tour since the 2019 European Open in Antwerp.
“I was playing against a player I just lost at Roland Garros. That was still in the back of my head. I was going to lose today. Sinner is an up and coming superstar. I think he is going to be top 10 very shortly. I think he is going to be competing for the biggest tournaments in the world”, said Zverev.
Zverev set up a final clash against Diego Schwartzman, who edged past Felix Auger Aliassime 6-4 5-7 6-4. Zverev will play his sixth championship match on German soil. Schwartzman leads 2-1 in his head-to-head matches against Zverev.
Schwartzman won the first set 6-4 with his only break in the opening game. The Argentine broke serve in the third game to take a 3-1 lead. Auger Aliassime fought back from 3-5 down by winning four consecutive games with two breaks to win the second set 7-5.
The third set started with three consecutive breaks. Schwartzman got two consecutive breaks in the first and third games and held his next service games. The Rome Masters 1000 finalist came back from 40-15 down to seal the win in the 10th game on his first match point.
