Golden Zverev, top-ranked Barty take Cincy titles

Alexander Zverev backed up his Olympic triumph with a fifth ATP Masters 1000 title as he crushed Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 in Cincinnati on Sunday.

The German needed less than an hour against his longtime childhood friend and rival to lift the trophy and put himself into a solid position with the US Open starting a week from Monday.

“The US Open starts in a week’s time, so obviously I want to keep it up and I want to maybe play even better there,” Zverev said.

Women’s world number one Ashleigh Barty was similarly impressive in winning her fifth title of the season at the combined ATP and WTA event, cruising past Swiss wild card Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1.

The Australian, who will keep a firm grip on the number one ranking as the final Grand Slam of the year approaches, took control mid-way through the opening set and was never truly threatened.

Barty played a near-impeccable match against a first-time Masters-level finalist, losing serve only once as she served for victory.

The top seed quickly corrected course, breaking Teichmann back in the final game to clinch the title in 71 minutes.

“It’s been an awesome week, with each match it was getting progressively better,” Barty said. “I’m excited to get matches in tough conditions here in Cincy going into New York.”

Zverev showed no effects from the stomach discomfort which forced him to take a medical timeout during his draining semi-final victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.

Zverev won his 11th match in a row and his fifth against Rublev, a player he’s been playing since their junior days.

The German came into the week with six defeats in prior Cincinnati appearances, but turned that negative on its head.

“My first win here was on Wednesday and now I’m holding the title four days later,” he said. “It’s been an incredible week, I had a lot of great matches. It’s a great feeling going into the Open.”

Zverev kept his unforced error count to just six, though he was out-aced by Rublev 11 to six.

The third seed produced 16 winners and broke Rublev five times.

Zverev’s only minor hiccup came as he was broken while serving for victory leading 5-2 in the second set.

But he closed out the convincing win a game later with a timely break back as Rublev found the net with a return.

“Until the end I was playing pretty good tennis,” Zverev said. “I didn’t do a big celebration at the net since Andrey and I have been best friends since we were 11 or 12.”

“With my Olympic gold and this fifth Masters I’m really looking forward to New York.” (AFP)