Internazionali BNL d’Italia—Rome, Italy
Elina Svitolina and Alexander Zverev won respective Italian Open titles on Sunday in Rome, Italy.
First up, Svitolina continued her great season by capturing her biggest title to date over recent Madrid Open winner Simona Halep, 4-6. 7-5, 6-1. In a match that latest two hours and eight minutes, Svitolina overcame the loss of the first set, before dominating third set action. Striking four aces, breaking serve on seven occasions and using her footwork friendly game to great effect, Svitolina took home her eighth career crown and fourth in 2017. Improving to 31-6 on the year, Svitolina propelled herself to being a serious contender for the Roland Garros title, which begins in Paris, France on May 28th.
Halep, who was going for her second-straight title in as many weeks, failed to claim her 16th career title, but will nevertheless head to Paris as one of the favorites to hoist the trophy.
Over on the men’s side, Alexander Zverev stunned No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 to win his maiden Masters 1000 title. Needing one hour and 21 minutes to seal his victory, Zverev slammed seven aces, won 84 percent of his first serve points and 69 percent of his second serve points. Never allowing Djokovic a break point throughout the encounter, the recently turned 20-year-old improved to 27-9 on the season, won his fourth career title and will debut in the top 10 as No. 10 in the world on Monday.
Djokovic, who was attempting to win his 31st career Masters 1000 title, defeated Dominic Thiem handily in the semifinals en-route to the finals. The former world No. 1 announced after the match that eight-time Major winner Andre Agassi will be his new coach. The partnership will begin at the upcoming French Open.
