COLOGNE – Alexander Zverev ended his 17-month wait for a title by drawing on the pain of his U.S. Open final defeat to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the Cologne Indoors on Sunday.Zverev has had a breakthrough year in Grand Slam tournaments with his first semifinal at the Australian Open in January and first final at the U.S.
Open last month, when he lost to Dominic Thiem. Zverev has said he thinks almost constantly about that final, and he credited it with raising his game in Cologne.“I had a very tough final in New York and, the next final I played here, I wanted to come out and play my best tennis,” he said.The German hadn't played the final of any regular ATP Tour events in 2020 until Sunday.