September 26, (THEWILL) – World number 10, Alexander Zverev, continued his impressive run of form by booking his place in the final of the Chengdu Open with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov on Monday. The German ace brushed aside Dimitrov 6-3 7-6(2) to set up a championship match against first-time ATP Tour finalist, Roman Safiullin.
Zverev has looked in sublime touch all week in China, dispatching three quality opponents without dropping a set. Against Dimitrov, he hit 21 winners and nine aces, while saving all five break points he faced. After the match, Zverev said it was his best performance of the week and he is hopeful of claiming his second title of the season on Tuesday.
Looking ahead to the final against Safiullin, Zverev showed respect for the opponent, saying of him: “I think this tournament he has been one of the most dangerous players. He is somebody who plays very fast, hits the ball extremely hard and he is somebody that maybe sometimes lacks consistency.
“This week obviously he’s playing extremely well, and when he’s playing like that, he’s one of the most dangerous players.”
Safiullin beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4 in the other semi-final. Safiullin’s sharp play and 30 winners carried him past the Italian and propels him to his first career final ensuring that he will reach a new career-high ranking inside the top 40 when the latest Pepperstone ATP rankings are updated.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
