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Alexander Zverev missed his third consecutive semi-final in the ATP Finals after a tough fight.
Zverev hugged Novak Djokovic, grabbed his two bags and left the London O2 Arena disappointed. The turbulent 2020 season of the German number one with sports highlights, but also many off-field riots, is over. Zverev lost 3: 6, 6: 7 (4: 7) to world number one Djokovic on Friday despite a courageous appearance and missed the third consecutive semi-final at the ATP Finals.
Djokovic faces Thiem in semi-finals
Zverev was only third in the final round of the preliminary round group “Tokyo 1970”. Djokovic, who has already won the tournament five times, secured second place and will now face Austrian US Open champion Dominic Thiem on Saturday. The second semi-finals are disputed by Russian Daniil Medvedev and 20-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal. The final will take place on Sunday.
In 2018, 23-year-old Zverev, based in Hamburg, achieved his triumph at the prestigious end of the year with a victory against Djokovic, in 2019 he was eliminated in the semi-finals. That year he had lost his first game against Medvedev and then won the group “final” against Djokovic with a difficult victory against Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
Zverev’s big year is disturbed by background noise
But Zverev knew he had to prepare to tickle the 17 Grand Slam winner. “I still don’t play my best tennis,” said the best German player: “But I have to do it on Friday because otherwise I won’t have a chance against Novak.” The best German player felt a great desire to add a sports joke in 2020.
The Australian Open semi-finals, the US Open finals, two tournament victories in Cologne and a final at the Paris Masters are definitely an impressive sporting record. But Zverev continued to make headlines off the court. In breaking the crown, he had to receive much criticism for his lax handling of the pandemic on the controversial tour of the Adriatic and at a party. It later emerged that an ex-girlfriend of his was pregnant and another ex-partner had accused him of domestic violence. Before the start of the tournament in London, he renewed his statement that the accusations were “unfounded and false”.
Djokovic leaves no chance for Zverev in the end
On tour courts, he had recently shown that he can produce good results despite loud background noise, that was also the goal against Djokovic. The world number seven got off to an unfavorable start against the favorites and immediately conceded a break, Djokovic scored points too easily. The initially dissatisfied Zverev bit more and more into the rallies, reached the break points but did not use them and Djokovic won the first set after just under 35 minutes.
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Novak Djokovic faces Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals of the ATP Finals and remembers last year’s ‘big game’. However, you would like a different output … (video length: 30 sec.).
In the second round, Zverev caused his opponent a lot more problems, he played more aggressively and with greater self-confidence. In the tiebreaker, however, Djokovic unpacked his best tennis and ended Zverev’s final tournament of the year.
Sports information service (SID)
