Zverev and Svitolina win fifth titles of 2017—are bigger ones coming?

“I have to be very aggressive,” Alexander Zverev said when he was asked before the Montreal final what it would take to beat Roger Federer.

That’s what nine out of 10 tennis players would say in the same situation, of course. But there was something about the “very” that made it sound like Zverev was determined to beat Federer to the punch in this match. After being thrashed by him in their last meeting, in Halle in June, Zverev seemed to think it was his only chance.

He was as good as his word. Zverev went after his forehand in a way that he hadn’t in his semifinal win over Denis Shapovalov; time after time, he beat Federer with pace and angle crosscourt. Zverev struck his backhand, as he always does, confidently to all parts of the court, and even finished off one service hold with a drop-shot winner. But he was boldest with his second serve. Zverev hit his second ball an average of 13 m.p.h. faster than he had been in his previous four matches in Montreal, and he even launched a few 130-m.p.h. second-serve missiles with it.

By the start of the second set, Federer was fed up. He yelled at the service line for helping one of Zverev’s shots pick up speed when it skidded off of it. Still, he did what he could to adjust. He varied his hitting position, used his drop shot, moved forward in the court and, in general, tried to give Zverev as many things as possible to think about. It was enough to earn Federer a break point in the second game, but not enough to earn him a break. Zverev again had the answer: Two unreturnable serves and a forehand winner.

That, it turned out, would be Federer’s last chance. Somewhere in the middle of the set, he hurt himself—a back spasm seemed probable. By the sixth game, he was arming his serve; by the eighth, he was standing ramrod straight when he hit his backhand. Zverev broke at 3-3 and held at love to close out the 6-3, 6-4 win.

While the end was anti-climactic, Zverev’s win was another major step forward for a player who has had more than his share over the last two seasons. It was his fifth title of 2017, his second in two weeks and his second Masters 1000. This was also his 10th consecutive match win, and his second in four meetings with Federer.

Zverev’s week in Montreal didn’t feel like a breakthrough; those can only come at Grand Slams for him now. This felt like a consolidation, as if, at 20, he’s gathering all of his strengths, mentally and physically, into a polished, complete game that’s difficult for anyone to contend with. On Sunday, against one of the great players in the game’s history, Zverev imposed his will and did exactly what he set out to do.

“I wanted to take as much time away as possible with [the forehand and serve],” Zverev said afterward, in an echo of what he had said beforehand. The best-laid plans of champions, and future champions, often don’t go awry.

NextGen? How about NowGen. How about...US Open favorite?

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When Elina Svitolina watched Caroline Wozniacki’s final return of the first set first sail long, she immediately raised her first above her head, as if she had won the tournament. She knew she still had a set to go, of course, but she had struggled so mightily in the first one that just getting through it felt like a victory worth celebrating.

“It was an extremely tough first set,” said Svitolina, who had failed to capitalize on earlier opportunities to build a lead. “I was just happy I was able to get through it.”

Svitolina must have had an inkling of what was coming. She had won both of her previous meetings with Wozniacki, and she never looked back after she had the lead in this one. The shots that flew wide or found the net in the first set began landing in the corners in the second. Or, to be precise, not landing in the corners, because Svitolina didn’t need to make them that good. Any player interested in knowing how to break down the Wozniacki wallboard—Karolina Pliskova, are you listening?—might want to watch a tape of Svitolina’s 6-4, 6-0 win.

Rather than go for winners, Svitolina tried to create forced errors off the Wozniacki racquet. It wasn’t complicated: She stepped forward, directed a backhand crosscourt and then directed the next one down the line, all with plenty of margin for error. No shot was meant to win the point outright, but the cumulative effect left Wozniacki scrambling and lunging and completely on the defensive. By the end, down 0-5, all Wozniacki could do was call her father out and complain. This was her sixth loss in six finals in 2017, and she hasn't won so much as a set in any of them. She has been unable to raise her game and take the rallies into her own hands with the title on the line.

“The second set was very confident,” a slightly dazed Svitolina said afterward. She was, after all, finishing up her third win in the last 24 hours.

Like Zverev, this was also Svitolina’s fifth title of 2017, and her most impressive to date. She beat four Top 10 players (and both of the Wimbledon finalists): Venus Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and Wozniacki. Only Muguruza took a set.

The victory makes Svitolina a U.S. Open dark horse, and, despite the fact that she has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal, she has a chance to become No. 1 in the world next week in Cincinnati.

“I have my goals, of course,” Svitolina said when she was asked about that possibility. “But I can’t think about that now. The most important thing is to have my game with me.”

Svitolina’s game isn’t spectacular, or even memorable; you don’t shake your head in awe at her shot-making, the way you do with Serena or Vika or Garbiñe. But as she showed in her approach to Wozniacki, it’s an efficient and effective one, and at 22 it looks destined to take her much farther. When a player has a chance to become No. 1, it’s time to start paying attention.

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