HEAD’s next gen player Sascha Zverev has made the breakthrough with his first career title after beating US Open champion Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to win the St Petersburg Open.
The German, who recommends the HEAD Graphene XT Speed Limited, came through for victory after almost two and a half hours on court.
Zverev earned his first title on his third final.
He becomes the eighth first-time title winner on the ATP in 2016 and first teen to take the honors since Marin Cilic (age 19) at New Haven eight years ago.
The 24th-ranked Zverev, now 38-21 on the season, said: “This victory is something special. I played all the finals well.
“I’m very happy with the win, especially over such a great player like Stan.
“In the third set I had the initiative and played slice to his left more. I tried to neutralize his massive backhand.”
Zverev dealt a blow to a Swiss opponent holding three Grand Slam titles as Wawrinka missed out on winning a 12th consecutive final.
Zverev broke four times and overcame six nervous double-faults. The winner stands as the youngest champion in tournament history since 1995 and first German to lift the trophy.
In Metz, France, HEAD’s Gilles Simon stalled in the semi-finals of that indoor event, giving Dominic Thiem a challenge but falling to a 6-4, 5-7, 3-6 result as the ATP season works its way to Asia and the fight for places in the London year-end final heats up.
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