Tennis news -Two reasons why jubilant Alexander Zverev can now live up to hype

It was a very strange week in London for Alexander Zverev.

He began it by taking the Jubilee line to Westminster along with all the other competitors in the ATP World Tour Finals to meet Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow.

On Monday, he beat Marin Cilic in their round robin match, with both sets going to a tie-break.

Two days later, he faced world number one Novak Djokovic, who swatted him aside 6-4, 6-1.

Friday’s final round-robin match against John Isner was another straight-sets win for the young German.

Then he pulled off his third career win against Roger Federer in Saturday’s semi-final before following that up 24 hours later with a comprehensive reverse on Djokovic, 6-4, 6-3, to lift the year-end crown for the very first time.

Zverev’s skills on the court really require no repetition. He was a top junior player, progressed to the professional tour, and in the last two years has really stepped up his game, achieving his best-ever Grand Slam result so far this year, reaching the quarter-final of the French Open.

Notwithstanding the oddness of the World Tour Finals – ostensibly featuring the top eight players in the world, but in effect featuring the top eight players in the world by ranking who are fit to play, and coming at the end of a gruellingly long season – lifting this particular trophy is a real milestone for Zverev, for two big reasons.

One, he bounced back from his loss to Djokovic on Wednesday to beat him soundly on Sunday, when it mattered. The 21-year-old was quick to thank coach Ivan Lendl for that.

"He obviously analysed the match that I played with him a few days ago, told me a few things I had to do different. I was more aggressive today," Zverev said afterwards.

Andy Murray will be the first to assure Zverev that Lendl can be the most invaluable addition to a player’s team – a man who can make the difference between winning a Grand Slam and just missing out. Zverev has said before that he thinks he puts too much pressure on himself when it comes to the majors – and the Czech will certainly be able to help him deal with that.

Two, the way in which Zverev handled his two big victories this weekend was very impressive. Beating his idol Federer for a third time was perhaps not that much of a shock, but having the confidence to stop a rally in the second-set tie-break due to a loose tennis ball in his eyeline was noteworthy. The fans handled the situation with much less dignity, with boos ringing round the O2 Arena, but although obviously a little shaken by the reaction, Zverev remained calm.

"I want to apologise for the situation in the tie-break," Zverev told the crowd. "The ballboy dropped the ball and it's in the rules that we have to replay the point. I apologised to Roger at the net and he said, 'It's OK, it's in the rules.'"

To bring out such a dominant display against the world number one to secure a title in straight sets the very next day shows that Zverev does have everything he needs to stay at the top of tennis for years to come. With a tour-leading 58 match wins this year, he’s starting to find some consistency too, and it’s no surprise that Djokovic has predicted that the German could even beat his career achievements – which currently include 14 Grand Slam titles.

Still, not everything on Sunday went quite his way.

“I fell to my knees, so my knees kind of hurt,” Zverev admitted. “Apart from that, I was very happy.”