by Andy Schooler, at The O2
The ATP Finals found a new crowd favourite on Sunday night when Alex Zverev produced a fine comeback to beat Marin Cilic.
In a match of many twists and turns, Zverev - at 20 the youngest player to qualify for the ATP Finals for nine years - found himself down 3-1 in the final set and trailing 0-30 on his own serve.
With Cilic's serve looking rock solid, the game looked almost up for the young German but, cheered on by an O2 crowd happy to get their first look at the new world number three, Zverev dug deep to win five of the next six games to claim a hard-earned 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory.
Zverev said it spurred him on to have the crowd behind him.
"The crowd, the atmosphere is amazing," he said following his debut match at the tournament. "The show before we walk on is something special.
"I always am someone who plays with the crowd quite a lot. I enjoy playing in front of big stages, big crowds. So, yeah, it obviously helped me a lot in the third set."
Zverev, aiming to become the first ATP Finals debutant to win the title since Alex Corretja in 1998, made a fine start by breaking serve in the opening game of the match, a fist pump to his box being met with delight by the crowd, who equalled enjoyed a stunning backhand down the line as the break was converted with a love hold.
The winner of two Masters titles this season was happy to draw Cilic into long baseline rallies which he invariably won with Cilic often throwing up an error.
However, as the set wore on, Cilic gained in confidence, helped by an improving serve. He held to love three times in a row at the back end of the set but by then the damage had been done.
Still, he had given himself a platform on which to build and he took full advantage of that at the start of the second set when he gained his first break of the Zverev serve as he raced 3-0 ahead.
More errors had crept into the Zverev game and although the youngster got the help of Hawk-eye to deny Cilic a set point, the Croat soon served out to square the contest.
Zverev tried to lift himself with more fist-pumping at the start of the third but he soon lost his serve again. A magnificent lob of his 6ft 6in opponent was soon forgotten as two backhand errors gifted away the game to leave Cilic in a position of real power.
At the other end of the court, Zverev was punching his strings and throwing his racquet onto the court surface but crucially he managed to hold from 0-30 in game five.
Marin Cilic's height = six feet and six inches
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 12, 2017
Lob chances = slim
Alexander Zverev defies the odds with this...#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/TIpVSaDb9G
Cilic was perhaps still thinking about a missed opportunity when he blew a 40-15 lead in the next game, losing it thanks to another excellent lob from Zverev - one Cilic did get a racquet to but was unable to control.
Zverev sensed the momentum had swung and having edged 5-4 ahead, he made his killer move.
A forehand onto the sideline was followed by a ripped backhand down the line to bring up three match points. He needed only one, again hitting the sideline before coming to the net to put away an easy volley.
Zverev will move on to a meeting with Roger Federer on Tuesday, a player he beat to win the Montreal Masters earlier in the year.
Cilic, meanwhile, must put thoughts of this agonising loss behind him as he prepares for a must-win match with Jack Sock.
What Cilic said
On his loss: "I was, I would say, a better player from the beginning of the second set till that middle part of the third set, quite more I would say in control. He was struggling to find the solutions to get back in the game. Just little bit unfortunate to lose it towards the end."
On the rest of the tournament: "I'm going to play Jack (Sock) next match. I believe I need to win that one to give myself a chance to go through. Well, one positive thing today is that I won a set in the match that I lost, so it could maybe make a difference towards the end. It's a slightly different tournament than what we were used to. Even with the loss, you can go through. I'm just going to try to stay positive and focus on the next match."
Match stats: Zverev v Cilic
Aces: 9 v 5
Double faults: 2 v 1
1st serves in %: 55 v 62
1st serve points won %: 81 v 74
2nd serve points won %: 48 v 57
Break points won: 3/4 v 2/6
