Zverev, de Minaur to duel in Citi Open final

ALEXANDER Zverev is back in the final at the Citi Open.

The defending champion beat 10thseeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals on Saturday. The top-seed is looking to become the first back-to-back winner of the hardcourt US Open tuneup since Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in 2008 and 2009.

Zverev has won 15 of 17 career matches in Washington.

“I’m playing great here,” the German said. “Hopefully, I can continue to do so (on Sunday) and hopefully in the next few years, as well.”

Zverev will face Alex de Minaur in the final after the unseeded Aussie beat Russia’s Andrey Rublev 5-7, 7-6 (8), 6-4 in the other semifinal. De Minaur reached the semis when former No. 1 Andy Murray of Britain withdrew from the waterlogged tournament, citing fatigue.

At 21, Zverev was the oldest player in the semifinals along with the 19-year-old Tsitsipas and de Minaur and 20-year-old Rublev. Zverev joked after advancing, “I think I’m the only one that’s allowed to buy a drink in the US, right?”

Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-2 to reach the women’s final. The 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open winner will face seventh-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia as she looks for her 18th WTA title.

Vekic saw off unseeded Zheng Saisai of China 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals.

Zheng brushed aside American qualifier Allie Kiick 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals as she and Rublev were forced to play twice on Saturday due to rain delays.

Rublev beat local product Denis Kudla 6-1, 6-4 before losing in three sets to de Minaur.