Hopman Cup: Roger Federer masters Alexander Zverev to remain perfect

After yesterdays win against Matthew Ebden, Zverev said he will do his best to perform better against Roger than 12 years ago when he also lost in the final against the Swiss but that turned out to be the mission impossible, with Federer dominating on the court since the closing stages of the opening set to march towards the finish line and deliver the opening point for Switzerland in their quest to defend the title in what might be the last edition of this wonderful tournament at the RAC Arena in Perth.

Everything worked perfectly for the 20-time Grand Slam champion, barely losing a point on his serve (10 in total) and using his wonderful block return to tame the initial shot of his rival and make him suffer on both the first and second serve.

Also, those returns were usually very deep and Sascha couldnt do much with them, starting the rally from behind and not being able to impose his shots and dictate the exchanges from the baseline. Roger covered the court beautifully, mixing up his shots and outplaying the rival in every department to notch a quick win before the womens singles match between Belinda Bencic and Angelique Kerber.

The Swiss never faced a break point and he converted two out of three chances he got on the return, enough for a single break in each set and to cross the finish line in no time at all. Both players served well in the opening seven games, completing them in just 18 minutes, and Zverev was the first who experienced troubles in own game, saving a break point with a volley winner to bring the game home before another easy hold from Roger who moved 5-4 up after a service winner.

Serving to stay in the set, Zverev suffered a break at 15 after a backhand error, handing the set to his rival after 33 minutes. Roger held after deuces at the start of the second set and Sascha started to show signs of frustration, throwing the racquet and losing serve at 15 in game two after an amazing backhand down the line winner in game two.

The German continued to struggle on serve in the rest of the match, allowing Roger to score another break with a volley winner in game eight to wrap up an amazing performance and put Switzerland in front. <table