First strong, then clearly inferior: Alexander Zverev (20) only managed to keep up with his big idol Roger Federer (Switzerland) for one set in the final of the Hopman Cup.
In Perth, Australia, the Hamburg player lost 7:6 (7:4), 0:6,2:6 and lost his fourth defeat in the sixth match against the Swiss Grand Slam record winner.
The German team is trailing 0:1, in the second match of the day Angelique Kerber (Kiel) is challenged against Belinda Bencic. If the former world number one wins, Germany could make the third title win in the final mixed match perfect. The only German winners in Perth so far were Michael Stich and Steffi Graf in 1993 and Boris Becker and Anke Huber in 1995.
Zverev began his duel with the 16-year-old Federer and put pressure on the Swiss player, especially in the tiebreak of the first set. Afterwards, however, Federer turned up the heat: In the second round, Zverev from Hamburg only made two wins, and also in the third set, Zverev scored the decisive break early on. Federer used his third match point to win.