Zverev edges past Cilic to win first match at ATP Tour Finals

Third seed Alex Zverev opened his first campaign at the ATP Tour Finals on Sunday night with a gritty three set victory over fifth seed Marin Cilic

Alex Zverev is competing at the end of season championships for the first time. Reuters/Tony O'Brien

It ended 6-4 3-6 6-4 to the 20-year-old German who qualified for the eight man event on the back of five victories on the circuit including notable wins in 2017 over Novak Djokovic at the Rome Masters and  Roger Federer at the Montreal Masters .

Zverev is the first German to qualify for the end of season championships since Rainer Schuettler in 2003 and has fittingly been drawn in the group named in honour of his Grand Slam winning compatriot Boris Becker.

Becker’s heir claimed Cilic’s opening service game and held to lead 2-0. He went on to take the set 6-4. He came unstuck in the second as Cilic started to find a way through. The 29-year-old levelled the match and surged into a 3-1 lead in the decider.

Serving at 3-2 up, Cilic squandered two points for a 4-2 lead and Zverev broke back for parity at 3-3.

From there it was level pegging but Zverev’s strokes were recapturing their first set bite. As a tiebreak beckoned it was Cilic who faltered. A Zverev backhand winner down the line offered him three match points and he advanced to smash away a volley to give him victory after nearly two and a half hours.

“I felt a little nervous going out onto the court,” said Zverev. “It’s different walking out for the first time. The crowd and the atmosphere are amazing. It’s not like anywhere else."

He added: "I’m happy that the first match is over and I’m happy that I’ve won. The next match will be different – obviously – it is against Roger Federer. But I won’t be nervous in the same way as I was today.”

The winner of that clash on Tuesday is likely to advance to the semi-final. The German will go into the match in good heart. They have played four times since the 2016 Rome Masters and there have been two wins apiece.

Zverev claimed their most recent encounter in the final at the Canadian Masters in Montreal in August just before the US Open.