Alexander Zverev eased to victory against Tomas Berdych to reach the final in St.Petersburg.
The world number 27’s tactic was to be aggressive and to go to the net, and this worked wonders for the German as he broke in the fifth game to earn a 3-2 lead in the first set. Despite Berdych’s aggression, Zverev held firm and won the first set 6-4. The second set was similar to the first, as Zverev’s ground strokes earnt him a break for a 2-1 lead. While Zverev looked comfortable, the same couldn’t be said about Berdych who was struggling on serve, however the world number nine managed to hold. Another key tactic for Zverev was the serve out wide and this tactic made sure Zverev would efficiently hold for a 5-3. However Berdych managed to find his rhythm and had three break points to level the match. Nevertheless Zverev showed character and manged to hold to grab the match 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 20 minutes. Zverev said after the match ” I am really happy I beat Tomas Berdych. I am really happy with that win.” That win sees the 19 year old into his third final of the season.
The other semifinal saw world number three Stan Wawrinka take on world number 16 Roberto Bautista Agut. Both men displayed some fantastic shot making, with Bautista Agut’s great net play and Wawrinka’s one handed backhand out wide. This was rewarded with an entertaining first set tiebreak, in which the Spaniard had two set points but he failed to capitalise. Despite this Wawrinka took the first set tiebreak 10-8. But the second set was a different story with Wawrinka dominant from the start and Wawrinka broke the Bautista Agut serve twice to complete a 7-6(8) 6-2 victory, to seal his fifth final of the season.
As a result the final is set Stan Wawrinka will play Alexander Zverev for the St.Petersburg open. It will be the first meeting between the two, while Zverev will have to be in first gear if he wants to stop Stan Wawrinka’s finals streak of 11-0.
