Strengthened by Wiener Schnitzel and spurred on by friend Sophia Thomalla, Alexander Zverev celebrated his fifth tournament victory this year.

The Olympic tennis champion decided the final in the Wiener Stadthalle against the American Frances Tiafoe 7: 5, 6: 4 for himself.

"That's great, especially since I didn't start the week so well," said Zverev. The 24-year-old from Hamburg needed 95 minutes for his 18th final triumph on the ATP tour. With that, Zverev drew level with the former Wimbledon winner Michael Stich. Only Boris Becker has won more tournaments in the history of German men's tennis.

The unusual schnitzel diet the evening before, which Zverev had humorously announced after his smooth semi-final success against the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, seemed to be working.

“Sophia keeps telling me how can you eat so much scrap all the time and still be so thin?

Yes, that's why I move around the field for 18 hours a day, "Zverev reported about teasing his new partner.

Actress Sophia Thomalla cheered on her Sascha loudly from the player's box on Sunday and applauded standing after the victory.

A partly top-class show

Zverev got off to a good start, put Tiafoe under pressure and got the early break to 3-1. But the 23-year-old outsider countered courageously, taking the serve from the German. Tiafoe delighted the audience with his emotional and sometimes spectacular game. At Zverev, on the other hand, looseness and dominance were initially gone. But the fourth in the world rankings kept his nerve. Above all, he could rely on his serve strength. Zverev could not yet use a first set ball, then he benefited from a mistake made by number 49 in the world rankings.

In the second round, Tiafoe's strength slackened a little.

The American had worked his way into the main field through qualification.

In the semifinals he had turned an almost lost game against South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner.

Also in the final Tiafoe toiled to the delight of the more than 8000 spectators, both players offered a partly top-class show.

“After the Corona period, I just enjoy playing in a full stadium again, something that I missed a lot.

I need the energy and am also impulsive on the pitch, ”said Zverev about the atmosphere in the town hall.

In the end, the man from Hamburg resolutely used his advantage in strength and class for his sixth success in the seventh comparison with Tiafoe.

It was the sixth German tournament victory in Vienna.

Before that, Stich, Becker, Philipp Petzschner and twice Tommy Haas had won the event.

Zverev collected a check for 275,000 euros.

He has already equalized his best record of five tournament victories from 2017.

In this form he will be one of the favorites again in Paris for the next few days.

"There are now two more tournaments, I want to do well," said Zverev.