Tennis, Alexander Zverev: Olympic champion Alexander Zverev won his 18th professional title in Vienna and added the next highlight to his successful tennis year. The 24-year-old from Hamburg defeated the US qualifier Frances Tiafoe 7: 5, 6: 4 in the final of the ATP tournament in the Wiener Stadthalle on Sunday. In the German best list, Zverev drew level with the former Wimbledon winner Michael Stich, who had won 18 titles in his entire career. This means that Zverev only has Boris Becker in front of him in the national ranking. Germany’s most successful tennis player has won 49 individual tournaments in his career, including six Grand Slam events. Zverev has so far been denied these most important titles.
For the fourth in the world ranking it was already the fifth tournament victory of the season in Vienna – only in 2017 he had also triumphed five times so far. In addition to Olympic gold in Tokyo, Zverev has already won the Masters events in Madrid and Cincinnati this year and also won in Acapulco. Stich (1991) and Becker (1996) had already celebrated titles in Vienna. Zverev, who now has the most titles by a player born in the 1990s, is heading into the two remaining highlights of this tennis year with a lot of tailwind. The German number one is one of the top favorites both at the Masters in Paris, which starts on Monday, where he has a bye, and at the ATP Finals of the eight best of the year in Turin (November 14th to 21st).
DFB Cup, women: The soccer players from Bayer Leverkusen followed champions Bayern Munich into the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup after a penalty crime thriller. The Bundesliga team prevailed on Sunday in the round of 16 with 5: 4 on penalties against league rivals TSG Hoffenheim. After 120 minutes it was 2: 2 (1: 1, 0: 0). Tine de Caigny (65th) and Judith Steinert (111th) met for Hoffenheim. Dora Zeller saved Leverkusen in the 89th minute, first in extra time and then on penalties (116th).
The first division clubs SC Sand and Turbine Potsdam also won their internal duels and qualified for the quarter-finals. The SGS Essen fought against the regional division Hamburger SV thanks to the goal of Maike Berentzen (69th) a 1-0 (0-0).
Leonie Kreil scored the decisive goal in the 1-0 (1-0) of SC Sand against Werder Bremen in the 11th minute of the game. Potsdam won 2-0 (0-0) against 1. FC Köln, goals scored by Marie-Therese Höbinger (53rd) and Selina Cerci (88th). Second division SV Henstedt-Ulzburg secured the ticket for the next round with a 9-0 (2-0) win at Regionalligist Sportfreunde Siegen.
Bayern had already qualified for the next round on Saturday with a 4: 2 (2: 1) against Eintracht Frankfurt. Bundesliga promoted Carl Zeiss Jena is also in the quarter-finals after a 3-1 (0-0) win against the regional division Karlsruher SC. VfL Wolfsburg will be at SC Freiburg on Monday (6.30 p.m.).
Handball, Bundesliga: SC Magdeburg has expanded its impressive winning streak in the handball Bundesliga with a hard-fought success. The club world champion prevailed against HC Erlangen on the ninth matchday after a dramatic end with 28:27 (16:13) and remained at the top of the table without losing points. Magdeburg’s Omar Ingi Magnusson converted a seven meter with the last action and ensured the happy victory. The Füchse Berlin remain the first pursuer. The capitals, who have also not yet lost a game, won against cup winners TBV Lemgo with 28:27 (17:13) and remain one point behind the Magdeburg team. The SG Flensburg-Handewitt, however, suffered the next setback. The runner-up did not get past a 30:30 (16:16) in the pursuit duel at Frisch Auf Göppingen and went into the international break with 10: 6 points. Göppingen is at 11: 7 points. Backcourt player Mads Mensah put SG in the lead 23 seconds before the end, but Göppingen’s Jon Lindenchrone scored seven seconds before the final whistle with a spin from the right wing to equalize.
In addition, HSG Wetzlar celebrated a 35:34 (21:16) win against TVB 1898 Stuttgart. The game between promoted HSV Hamburg and MT Melsungen was canceled due to a medical emergency in the spectator area.