Metronome Medvedev counters Zverev to win first Paris Masters
Once Daniil Medvedev found a way to counter Alexander Zverev’s huge serve, his metronome-like rhythm clicked in and he counterattacked clinically to win the Paris Masters for the first time.
Medvedev’s 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory Sunday gave him his eighth career title and third at a Masters event.
“I managed to stay really strong, be there all the time,” the third-seeded Russian said. “Putting pressure on him all the time, raising my level step by step, and finally he broke.”
Medvedev’s style of play is unspectacular — and not “wild” as Zverev put it afterward.
But what he does well is relentlessly chip away with flat, uneeringly accurate strokes, punctuated by sudden accelerations of speed and whipped, fizzing forehands that always seem to land just in. Zverev, like many others before him, soon became exasperated and momentum quickly shifted.
“I’m really trying to make my opponent crazy,” Medvedev said with a wry smile in his post-match interview.
It was just his second win against the fourth-seeded Zverev in seven matches. His previous victory against the imposing German was also in a Masters final last year in Shanghai.
Philly claims Supporters’ Shield on the final day of MLS season
The path to the MLS Cup will go through Philadelphia after the Union wrapped up the Supporters’ Shield and top seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs on the final day of the MLS regular season on Sunday.
The Union got goals from Sergio Santos and Cory Burke to beat New England 2-0 and claim the Supporters’ Shield for the first time in club history. It’s the first major trophy for the Union in their 11th MLS season.
“On paper, we’re probably not the most talented or the team that people would pick at the beginning of the year. But that’s what makes pro sports special,” coach Jim Curtain said. “A group of guys that have belief, that have confidence. They get better every day and they’re in a good environment. It’s a special group that we have and again, I couldn’t be more proud of the players.”
Out West, Sporting Kansas City withstood a snowy, sloppy field in Utah for a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake and claimed the top seed in the Western Conference. Sporting KC got goals from Khiry Shelton and Erik Hurtado early in the second half to secure home-field advantage.
The single-elimination MLS Cup playoffs will get started on Nov. 20 following an upcoming break on the FIFA calendar for international matches. Sporting KC will open with No. 8 seed San Jose.
Carlos Ortiz gets his first PGA Tour victory at Houston Open
HOUSTON — Carlos Ortiz held off Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama by closing with a 5-under 65 to win the Houston Open on Sunday, becoming the first Mexican to win on the PGA Tour in 42 years.
He earned every bit of it, caught in a tight battle on the back nine with the world’s No. 1 player and Japan’s biggest star. Ortiz delivered the winner with a 6-iron to 8 feet on the par-5 16th. He had to settle for a two-putt birdie, and it held up when Johnson and Matsuyama narrowly missed birdie chances coming in.
Ortiz finished in style. Needing two putts to win, the 29-year-old holed a 20-foot birdie putt for a two-shot victory that sends him to the Masters next April for the first time.
By wire sources
