Cologne (Germany) (AFP)

Zverev, king of Cologne: after a first coronation a week ago in the German city, the 23-year-old German won again on Sunday in the final in Cologne, drily beating the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (9th in the world) , 6-2, 6-1.

The 7th in the world thus won the 13th title of his career, just over a week from the Masters 1000 at Bercy, also played indoors and on hard.

The weeks go by and look the same for the native of Hamburg: seven days ago, it was the young Félix Auger-Aliassime, 22nd in the world, who was subjected to Zverev's law;

this time it was Schwartzman, 9th in the world and recent semi-finalist at Roland Garros, who lost under the powerful blows of Zverev.

The only difference is that the German took about ten minutes less to win: 1:11 against 1:21 last Sunday.

"Sascha was much better (than me) today. He was perfect on the court, he totally deserves his victory", greeted Schwartzman at the end of the meeting, played behind closed doors due to coronavirus.

- Mattresses, a dog and music -

The few people present (including a dog!) Were however able to attend the exchanges, comfortably installed on ... mattresses, provided by the sponsor of the tournament, some interruptions of the game were punctuated by a music group.

"Two days ago I wasn't sure if I would finish the tournament, and today I won it. I'm really happy that I continued," Zverev said happily.

The German had indeed appeared physically diminished, apparently suffering from a hip problem, Friday during his quarter-final against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

"For me to withdraw from the tournament, I would have to have a broken leg," he said with humor at the end of the game.

This physical glitch did not seem to bother him on Saturday during his semi-final against Jannick Sinner, who had beaten him in 8th at Roland Garros, and on which he took his revenge in two small sets, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

Nor either against Schwartzman on Sunday, against which he was ruthless in service (9 aces) and forehand in particular.

These two consecutive successes in Cologne will allow Zverev to forget a little his painful final at the US Open in mid-September: after leading two sets to zero, he finally saw victory slip away against Dominic Thiem.

"I hadn't played in Germany for 14 months, I missed it. These two weeks were really special for me," said the Hamburg native.

© 2020 AFP