“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.