Alexander Zverev scored another victory for his age group by winning St. Petersburg for his first ATP title. The 19-year-old expressed surprise when told he was the first teenage winner on tour since 2008 (Marin Cilic).
"Really? I'm the first one," he asked the ATP website. "It's great at such a young age. It's something that I could only dream of and I'm really proud of myself right now."
The German had reached two previous finals this season, in Nice and Halle, but had recorded first-round defeats during three of five events coming into St. Petersburg. He defeated Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka on his way to the title.
"Oh yeah, it's definitely something special," Zverev said. "I was serving pretty good the whole week, which helps on a fast court, indoors. And I was pretty good, pretty solid from the baseline. Obviously I had a few tough opponents but yeah, I was happy with the way I played.'
Other young players who have won their first title this season include Nick Kyrgios and Lucas Pouille, with the Frenchman winning at Metz this week.
"As I said before, there's a strong group of guys coming up who all play pretty good tennis," said Zverev, who moves to a career high No. 24 in the rankings.