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Alexander Zverev's breakout 2017 season has seen him become the first player to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, to be staged 7-11 November at the Fiera Milano, Italy.
The 20-year-old Zverev will compete in his sixth final of the season Sunday when he battles Roger Federer for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown in Canada. Only Rafael Nadal, seven, and Federer, six, have reached as many or more finals this season.


“I’m excited to have qualified for the first Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. It’s been a great season so far and I hope it can get even better in the coming weeks,” Zverev said.

Zverev, after winning his maiden title last September at the St. Petersburg Open (d. Wawrinka), has raced to the top of the Emirates ATP Race to Milan this season with deep runs on every surface. In February, he won the indoor hard-court title at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier (d. Gasquet). The 6'6” Zverev backed that title up with two clay-court crowns – the BMW Open by FWU in Munich (d. Pella) and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he defeated then World-No. 2 Novak Djokovic to become the youngest Masters 1000 titlist since a 19-year-old Djokovic won the 2007 Miami Open presented by Itau.

On grass, Zverev reached another final, falling to Federer at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. But the German quickly returned to his winning ways, taking the Citi Open crown on the Washington, D.C. hard courts last week for his first ATP World Tour 500-level trophy. He enters Sunday's final at a career-high No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and with a 45-13 record on the season.

Zverev has taken a commanding lead in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, but his peers, including Canadian Denis Shapovalov, have made gains on big stages. The 18-year-old Canadian, currently in 11th place in the Race, will surge to fourth with his breakthrough performance on home soil. Shapovalov has beaten Juan Martin del Potro, World No. 2 Rafael Nadal and Frenchman Adrian Mannarino en route to becoming the youngest Masters 1000 semi-finalist (since 1990).


Karen Khachanov, second in the Race, reached the semi-finals in Halle and has made four other ATP World Tour quarter-finals. Russian Andrey Rublev, who will be in fifth place on Monday, celebrated his maiden title last month at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag.

Zverev and seven of the world's other top 21-and-Under players will compete for total prize money of US$ 1.275 million during the season-ending tournament, which will feature a series of rule changes and innovations to be trialled.

Alexander Zverev sets final clash vs. Roger Federer
Looking for a glimpse into the future of the ATP World Tour? The stars of tomorrow put on a dazzling display under the lights on Saturday at the Coupe Rogers, as Alexander Zverev defeated Denis Shapovalov for a spot in the final.
The #NextGenATP showdown went the way of the fourth-seeded German 6-4, 7-5, who reached his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of the year (won Rome title). He will play for a fifth title overall in 2017 against Roger Federer on Sunday.
Zverev's victory was a historic one, as the World No. 8 became the first to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, to be held from 7-11 November. The top seven players in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan qualify, with the eighth spot reserved for a wild card.

Zverev silenced a packed, partisan Court Central crowd, but it was far from a routine victory. Shapovalov gave the Montreal faithful plenty to cheer for with his spirited exuberance.
"I told him he had a great run, well done to him, to not worry too much that he lost today," said Zverev. "I also told him that this is just the first match of very, very many that we will play against him. Hopefully a lot of other big matches, maybe in Grand Slams, maybe in finals of tournaments. I just told him that this is the beginning for him."
Zverev had too much firepower in the big moments. In previous matches this week, Shapovalov used his kicking forehand to drive his opponents back and set up his devastating backhand finish. At 6'6", Zverev refused to be pushed around. The German forced the Canadian off the baseline with deep, penetrating groundstrokes and a blistering cross-court backhand winner would give him his first break points at 4-4. A Shapovalov double fault handed Zverev the break and he would close out the set one game later.

It was a nervy start to the second set for both players, with Shapovalov broken on four unforced errors to open proceedings and Zverev broken back with two straight misfired groundstrokes. The 18-year-old Richmond Hill native would dig deep to earn a pair of clutch holds, including one from 0/40 down at 4-4. But a double fault while facing break point at 5-5 earned Zverev the decisive break.
A 16-point final game was a fitting punctuation mark. Shapovalov turned aside a pair of match points, while Zverev denied three break points. A backhand pulled wide would seal it for the German, who claimed the first FedEx ATP Head2Head clash in one hour and 43 minutes. Their meeting was the youngest semi-final on the ATP World Tour since 18-year-old Kei Nishikori defeated 20-year-old Sam Querrey in Delray Beach in 2008.
Zverev is now up to 45 wins on the season, tying his career-high from 2016 and is just two shy of Rafael Nadal’s tour-leading 47 victories in 2017. At 20 years, three months, he is the youngest Coupe Rogers finalist since Novak Djokovic won the 2007 title. Moreover, he has won nine matches in 11 days, having sprinted to the Citi Open title one week ago.
On Sunday, the fourth seed will clash against second seed Federer in what will be their third FedEx ATP Head2Head battle. The Swiss owns a 2-1 lead, including a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory in this year's Gerry Weber Open final.
"I think he's definitely the favourite," added Zverev. "He's been playing amazing tennis. He pretty much won every single big tournament he played this year. I feel like I'm playing well, so I know that I have to serve a lot better tomorrow than I did today. That was I think the thing that I struggled the most with today.
"But, you know, I played in five finals this year. I won four. The one that I lost was against Roger. There's a reason for it. I'm happy to be in the final. I'll try to enjoy as much as I can."
Despite seeing his dream run come to an end, Shapovalov will hold his head high after a breakthrough week at his home ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. The 18-year-old Canadian became the youngest player to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final and will break into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, projected to rise to No. 67. His run to the semi-finals gave the home fans plenty of reason to cheer as the future of Canadian tennis was on full display with signature upsets of Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal. Shapovalov is schedule to feature at next week's ATP Challenger Tour event in Vancouver, which is set to get underway on Monday.
"It's a little bit disappointing, this loss today, because I felt like I had a chance, but Sascha played too good in the big moments," said Shapovalov. "I don't think I played that well in those moments. I gave away a lot of breaks with double faults. I wasn't even letting him play those points.
"But credit to him, he's playing with so much confidence. He really put the pressure on me. I don't think it's going to affect my week. I mean, I've had the week of my life. Sascha is an unbelievable player. Actually it's pretty nice to see how my game matches up against him, to see that I can compete with a great player like him."

German rides dominant serving display for title

There is a new champion at the Coupe Rogers and his name is Alexander Zverev. The #NextGenATP German was in a relentless rhythm throughout the final in Montreal and would take the title 6-3, 6-4 over Roger Federer.
Zverev claimed his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy, adding to his maiden title in Rome (d. Djokovic) earlier this year. He became the first player outside the Big Four of Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to win multiple Masters 1000 titles in a season since David Nalbandian in 2007. In addition, he is just the second active player other than the Big Four to win more than one Masters 1000 crown, joining Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"Winning two Masters 1000 titles in the same year is something amazing," said Zverev. "I played well winning Washington and here. It's something amazing, back-to-back weeks. 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."
Zverev, who secured his place in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan with a semi-final win over Denis Shapovalov, was dominant in all facets on Sunday. The German struck his serve with aggressive alacrity and his powerful groundstrokes opened the court for finishing blows. He also moves to third in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals receiving a significant boost.
The 20 year old added a tour-leading fifth ATP World Tour title of the season, joining Federer atop the leaderboard. In addition to his victory in Rome, he previously prevailed in Marseille, Munich and last week in Washington.
"I feel like I'm playing the right tennis, well enough tennis to be there," Zverev added. "I don't feel like things are going unnatural. I think everything is going pretty natural. Obviously winning the two Masters 1000 events, everybody would be proud of that, and nobody could expect it. But I'm happy that it happened."
Zverev fired 20 winners, including six aces, during the swift 68-minute affair. He was a force on serve, saving all three break points faced, while claiming two of six of his own. Most impressively, the German refused to allow Federer to find his rhythm from the baseline and on return, claiming 75 per cent of total service points and dominating rallies from the back of the court. Two breaks - at 2-1 in the first set and 3-all in the second - were all Zverev needed to cross the finish line. He closed out the victory with a service winner on his first match point.
Winner of $894,585 in prize money and 1,000 Emirates ATP Rankings points, Zverev is the youngest champion at the Coupe Rogers since Djokovic in 2007. He is also the first German titlist in more than 30 years, since Boris Becker prevailed in Toronto in 1986.
"It is a positive week in the end," said Federer. "The final was unexpected. But it's keeping up with the good results of this year. Playing the final was a good thing. Of course, I'm disappointed with today. I thought I would do better. I wanted to fight a bit more and make the match a bit more tighter. I had opportunities. But Zverev played extremely well. He played well all week.
"Alexander has been around for a while now. Not a whole long time, but at this level I've gotten to play him already now for the fourth or fifth time. I practised a ton with him. We know each other well. I'm just really happy for him, to see that he's taking everything not just to the next level, but the two next levels, winning two Masters 1000s. It's extremely difficult to win. He's won two this year. It's a wonderful achievement for him. I wish him the best for the coming months and hope he can finish the season very strong because there's opportunities now."
Federer leaves Montreal with his first defeat in a final this year (5-1 record) and first loss to a Top 10 player (9-1). Boasting a 35-3 mark in 2017, the Swiss was looking to win a title in the Canadian city for the first time. The two-time champion at the Canadian ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event (2004 & '06 in Toronto), Federer takes home $438,635 in prize money and 600 Emirates ATP Rankings points. He will look to add an eighth Western & Southern Open title next week in Cincinnati, where he is also vying to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Learn More About No. 1 Scenarios
"I felt all right all week. Had a bit of muscle pain, aches and pains here and there, just because it's back on the match courts, on the hard courts. After vacation and practice, it's always a bit of a shock for the body. We'll have to wait and see now how I feel in the next couple of days."

German keeps coming up clutch when pressure is on
A lone deciding-set tie-break each week is proving all Alexander Zverev needs to find form and send him on his way to a title-winning run. Such has been the German’s fate over the past fortnight, he’d be forgiven for looking at ease should he find himself in a similar situation at the Western and Southern Open this week.
The #NextGenATP star and Race to Milan leader is coming off back-to-back titles on North American hard courts, at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. and last week’s Coupe Rogers in Montreal. In Washington, D.C., Zverev narrowly eked out a deciding-set tie-break triumph over Australian Jordan Thompson before he reeled off four straight matches to clinch the title.
Then, last week in Montreal he saved three match points and closed out Richard Gasquet in his opening match before again sweeping through his final four matches. Victory over Roger Federer in the final landed him a second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title for the season.
“I feel well on court. I feel very confident,” Zverev said. “Obviously, feeling good about my game as well. I won both first rounds in Washington and Montreal 7-6 in the third and then after that I haven’t lost a set the whole tournament.
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“I think winning those kinds of matches helps as well. I really hope I don’t face 7-6 in the first round here again even though it’s kind of a good-luck charm. Would be nice to have a two-setter, maybe.
“Tennis is such a close game. You play the best players in the world and win those kinds of matches and it gives you a lot of confidence for the next few rounds.”
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It has been a marked improvement from the 20 year old as he stands at a career-best No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and third behind only Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Emirates ATP Race to London. Since bringing former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero into the coaching fray in mid-July it has brought immediate success, although the improvements have been in the works for much longer.
“I think physically I’ve improved a lot, that’s probably been my biggest improvement,” Zverev said of his development in the past year. “The serve’s improved, my returns have improved, but all small things. In general my game has become faster.”

Alexander Zverev didn't have any energy during his first match in Cincinnati. The German player lost to Francis Tiafoe by 4-6 6-3 6-4 after winning Washington and Montreal titles. 'I'm completely dead right now', the 20-year-old admittes in press conference.

'I have been dead for the past two days. I just played, what, 12 matches in a two-week span? I have won one ATP 500 event and one ATP 1000 event in the last two weeks. I beat a lot of top-10 players and have beaten a lot of great players, a lot of tough matches.

I'm not a machine. So I'm tired, yeah. There is no hiding it. I don't take anything away from him. He did a great job of finishing the match, but I think in the middle of the second set, I was about a 10% of what I can play.' He was only one of three top 10 players in the tournament, so it was a great chance to earn more points.

'I always have motivation to play. I always have encouragement. But there is a physical limit to all of us, and I have reached that right now.' Speaking about his next plans, Zverev said: 'I'm going to take three, four days off and play a little bit of golf or go to the beach, something like that.

Not touch the tennis racquet.' Finally he commented about US Open: 'I think there are a few guys there, strong favorites. I think Roger and Rafa are the strongest ones and a few guys coming after that. I think I am involved in that group.

I am in that small group of players. Obviously the two favorites are Roger and Rafa.' .