With a pottery cup in his hand, Alexander Sverrev looked at his delighted father during the victory speech – and could not help but joke. Unable to hold back tears of joy over his master’s degree in Cincinnati, he called out to his dad and coach, “God, God, don’t cry like that.” Unlike the Olympic victory three weeks ago in Tokyo, there was a regular respect in front of the spectators, and Sverev had every reason to rest. In just 59 minutes, the 24-year-old from Hamburg handled his Russian friend Andrzej Ruble in the final 6: 2, 6: 3.

Out of respect for the 23-year-old he has known since childhood, Sverev avoided being overly enthusiastic on Sunday. “I know how Andre feels,” he said after his fifth degree in postgraduate studies, while frustrated Rublev had to wait for a match victory in the second most important category.
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Sverrev became the second German after Boris Becker in 1985 to win the title in preparation for the US Open, which begins in a week. The fact that the new fourth major in the world rankings has not yet won a match is another indication of the excellent form the German number one still has. “I won my first match four days ago and now I have the title. It’s an incredible week,” said Sverev, who said nothing about stomach problems and the exhausting race in the semifinals against Greek Stephanos Chitsibas.

Rublev had a worse semi-final victory than his hard-working Daniel Medvedev. A 4-0 lead in the first set and a quick break in the second were the basis for their 17th match victory. Sverev mixed his service against the Olympic champion shortly before the end.

Sverev, who came to the US Open with this win, called it an “incredible feeling”. A year after the now-injured Austrian Dominic Theme and the scaly slender final against the first Grand Slam title he missed, Sverev reduced himself to his delight. On Sunday he will offer one more – perhaps not desirable – public congratulations to his brother Misha, who turned 34 years old. “My brother will kill me for it,” Sverev said with a laugh, before adding an almost forgotten greeting to his speech. (dpa)