Zverev upsets Federer

Alexander Zverev’s hot streak is still alive. Roger Federer’s win streak is over. The German beat Federer 6-3, 6-4 in the Rogers Cup final on Sunday for his 10th consecutive victory. The 20-year-old Zverev, the winner last week in Washington, D.C., matched Federer with a fifth tournament title this year. He also stopped Federer’s win streak at 16.

He will try to keep it going at an event in Cincinnati this week. “It’s something amazing, back-to-back weeks,” said Zverev, who handed Federer only his third loss of the year. “I feel great. “I feel like I’m playing some of the best tennis of my life. But Cincinnati is a very tough draw. I don’t know if I will be able to go far there because I am a little bit tired. But game-wise and confidence-wise, I’m super happy the way everything is standing.”

He avenged a loss to Federer at Halle, Germany on June 25 and evened their career head-to-head record at two wins apiece. The fourth-seeded Zverev won $894,585 while the second-seeded Federer got $438,635.

Zverev used some sharp groundstrokes to get the only service break he needed to win the first set. The lanky German escaped a break point at 1-0 in the second set with consecutive aces, and an off-looking Federer never challenged again. The 36-year-old Federer said he only felt “aches and pains” from playing in his first tournament of the hardcourt season, but it looked to be more than that.

Zverev said he only noticed that his opponent’s serve wasn’t quite as hard. He broke a mistake-prone Federer for a 4-3 lead and served out the match. He will climb to seventh in world rankings with the win, his second Masters 1000 Series victory this year along with Rome, and is looking more and more like a future Grand Slam tournament winner.—AP