Alexander Zverev has had a very strange journey at the Cincinnati Masters, losing all of his main draw matches until 2021 when he won the event.
Tennis is a very interesting sport with a long history and plenty of matches every year. Due to that combination, we've seen some pretty crazy things happen. We have impossible stat lines, a bunch of odd things that shouldn't have happened, and then we have Alexander Zverev's Cincinnati Masters journey.
So what's so special about it? Well, he's played as part of the ATP main draw seven times so far but didn't win a match in his first six attempts. The first one happened in 2015, and the last one in 2021. It was only that year that he actually won a main draw match at the event and it gave him so much confidence that he went all the way.
Now you might not bat an eye on that; however, when you break it down, it's rather odd that it took him so many years to win a match at the event, especially since the courts play into his strengths rather well. It got so bad that he even joked around multiple times about his record in the city. So let's break it down.
An 18-year-old Zverev made his main draw debut in 2015, playing against Borna Coric. It was a close match, but the Croatian prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5). A year later, Zverev returned as the ATP number 27 to face Yuichi Sugita (ranked 102nd). He lost in three sets in spite of winning the opening set. The score was 7-6(4), 4-6, 2-6.
Okay, upsets happen, not a huge deal but it actually was. It was one of many he would sustain in Cincinnati for some reason. In 2017 it was Frances Tiafoe, ranked 87th back then, that defeated him. The final score was 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 for Tiafoe.
In 2018, world number 4 Zverev was upset once again in the second round. Once again, Zverev won the opening set but lost the next two against number 55 Robin Haase. The score was 7-5, 4-6, 7-5. A year later, it was world number 58, Miomir Kecmanovic, who stunned world number 6 Zverev. The score followed a similar pattern, Zverev won the first but lost the next two 7-6(4), 2-6, 4-6.
2020 didn't bring anything new as Zverev was upset by world number 134 at the time, Andy Murray. The score was 3-6, 6-3, 5-7. And then we get to 2021, the trophy year. He bested Lloyd Harris in the second round to win his first-ever main draw match at the event.
It was his 7th main draw appearance. He then bested Guido Pella, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Andrey Rublev in the final to win the trophy. It was the last time he played at the event, and he's making a comeback this year. His first-round match will see him play against Grigor Dimitrov.
Alexander Zverev's Cincinnati Masters Journey:
| Year | Opponent & Result (Rank) | Zverev's rank at the time |
| 2015 | loss to Borna Coric (38) | 85 |
| 2016 | loss to Yuichi Sugita (102) | 27 |
| 2017 | loss to Frances Tiafoe (87) | 7 |
| 2018 | loss to Robin Haase (55) | 4 |
| 2019 | loss to Miomir Kecmanovic (58) | 6 |
| 2020 | loss to Andy Murray (134) | 7 |
| 2021 | wins over Harris, Pella, Ruud, Tsitsipas & Rublev | 5 |
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