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ATP Finals: Alexander Zverev stuns Novak Djokovic to win biggest title of his career

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Zverev won the biggest title of his career (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Alexander Zverev stunned Novak Djokovic to become the youngest ATP Finals winner in a decade, with a dominant display at the O2 Arena.

Few gave Zverev a prayer after he was torn apart by the Serb in the group stages, but he has gathered momentum throughout the tournament with his semi-final victory over Roger Federer perhaps a catalyst for further excellence.

His display was as assured as it was dominant, with the world No. 1 struggling to contain the 21-year-old, as he stormed to a 6-4 6-3 win in an hour and 19 minutes to become the first German winner since Boris Becker triumphed in Frankfurt in 1995.

Remarkably, he became only the fourth player to beat Federer and Djokovic in the semi-finals and final of the same tournament, after Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian.

Djokovic had enjoyed a remarkable week prior to Sundays final, particularly on serve, but he appeared fatigued and out of sorts, with his forehand a notably casualty.

It wasnt to be for Djokovic (Picture: Getty)

Hed been suffering with a cold earlier in the tournament – as well as at the Paris Masters – and could be seen blowing his nose on court once again.

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But thats to take nothing away from Zverev, who became the youngest winner of this event since a 20-year-old Djokovic won the 2008 edition of the ATP Finals out in Shanghai.

In doing so, he collected a cool $2,509,000 (£1,950,000) in prize money and 1,300 ranking points, which sees him end the year just 35 points behind Federer in the rankings – with the 37-year-old Swiss defending 2,000 points at the Australian Open at the beginning of 2019.

Many have tipped the German to be the heir to the tennis throne in the era beyond the Big Four and this title may yet prove to be another stepping stone on his way to realising that dream.

This week has felt like a coming of age for Zverev, although he has won big best-of-three titles in the past – with three Masters 1000 crowns to his name – but he now must push on at Slam level if hes truly to be considered as a major threat to the old guard.

Though it ended in defeat, Djokovic will be able to look back on 2018 fondly.

He equalled Pete Sampras haul of 14 Grand Slam titles by winning Wimbledon and the US Open, while becoming the only player to win all nine Masters 1000 events following his win over Federer in Cincinnati and becoming the oldest year-end No. 1.

The Serb began the day by practising some form of meditation barefoot on a tree – in some yet to be known London park – and showed typical mental calm and poise as he negotiated a 29-shot rally in just the opening game of the match.

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Indeed, the crowd – including David Beckham – were able to sink their teeth into host of spell-binding rallies in the opening set, with Zverev ably going toe-to-toe with the top seed.

It was Djokovic, in fact, who cracked first. Facing just his third break point of the week – all of which had come against the German – the Serb tamely dumped a forehand into the net as he was broken for the first time throughout the event in London.

A wild service game from the youngster followed, with Djokovic suddenly springing to life again and he hit back immediately.

Incredibly, a third consecutive break came for Zverev, with Djokovic squatting down at the back of the court at 15-30 down appearing exhausted before dumping a drop-shot and a forehand into the net to surrender his serve once more.

That proved to be the crucial break as Zverev continued to hold before clinching a fourth break of the match as he stormed to the biggest win of his short career.

Zverev took the first set (Picture: Getty)

Zverev followed up his break brilliantly, dispatching three aces in a row before wrapping up a one-set lead.

All of a sudden, the 31-year-old was rattled and he was forced to dig out a timely unreturned first serve down the T to save break point in his opening service game of the second set but he was broken again moments later with Zverev thumping a forehand winner up the line at the end of a nervy rally.

A wild service game from the youngster followed, with Djokovic suddenly springing to life again and he hit back immediately.

He fell to the floor after his final backhand passing shot, with Djokovic graciously climbing over the net to congratulate the German after the match.

Sock and Bryan won the title (Picture: Getty)

There proved to be great drama in the doubles earlier on Sunday.

Wimbledon and US Open champions Jack Sock and Mike Bryan fought back from a set down to beat French pairing Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 5-7 6-1 13-11.

The Americans led 9-5 in the championship tiebreak but squandered five match points before being match point down at 10-11, before Herbert painfully double faulted the title away.

Bryan became just the sixth man to win the season-ending title with at least two different partners, while Sock was the first player to reach the semi-finals of the singles and win the doubles title since John McEnroe won both back in 1984.