Jannik Sinner fought back to seal his fourth ATP Tour title of the season by beating Alexander Zverev 3-6 6-3 7-5 in the Erste Bank Open final in Vienna.
Sinner, who also won the tournament in 2023, clinched the all-important break in the 11th game of the deciding set and clinically served out for victory in two and a half hours, despite enduring some physical problems in the first and third sets.
The world number two became the first man to reach eight ATP finals in back-to-back seasons since Novak Djokovic in 2015-16 after beating Alex de Minaur in the last four.
“It feels amazing,” said Sinner after his 21st straight win on indoor hard courts. “It was such a difficult start in this final for me. I went a break down, had some chances in the first set but couldn’t use them. He was serving very well, but I just tried to stick there mentally and play my best tennis when it came.
“The third set was a bit of a rollercoaster, but I was feeling the ball very well at times, so I tried to push and I’m very happy of course to win another title. It’s very special.”
The Italian was broken for just the third time in the tournament as Zverev opened up a 5-1 lead in the opening set on his way to taking it 6-3 in 47 minutes.
Sinner appeared to limp in between points, causing concern after he was forced to retire from a physical contest in Shanghai earlier this month after cramping up.
But the four-time major winner recovered from the issue to hit straight back in the second set, breaking Zverev to move 3-0 up and going on to win it 6-3 and level the match.
Zverev saved two break points in the fifth game in the decider to lead 3-2, and had a golden opportunity to forge ahead as Sinner began to struggle physically again.
But Sinner upped his aggression, keeping the points short, and broke decisively in the 11th game to lead 6-5 before ruthlessly serving out for the title by winning his next service game to love.
“The most important thing was to not give up and try to stay there,” he said of his physical issues. “Try to see what the situation was. I just tried to make the right choices at the right time, I think that was the key today. Serving well and saving energy in my service games was important too.”
Elsewhere, Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca maintained his rapid progress by winning his first ATP 500 title, beating Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-4 in the Swiss Indoor final in Basel.
With PA
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