Germany's Alexander Zverev returns the ball during the ATP bett1HULKS Indoors tennis final against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in Cologne, Germany, Oct 18, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)

Top seed Alexander Zverev reached his second final in the space of a week in Cologne with a clinical 7-6(3) 6-3 victory over Italian wild card Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of the bett1HULKS Championship on Saturday.

The German world number seven claimed his first ATP crown of the year after besting Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3 to win the bett1HULKS Indoor title at the same venue last Sunday.

The German world number seven claimed his first ATP crown of the year after besting Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3 to win the bett1HULKS Indoor title at the same venue last Sunday

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Zverev, who was beaten by Sinner in the French Open last-16, made the more nervy start and soon found himself trailing 3-1 in the opening set.

“I was playing a player I just lost to at Roland Garros. That was still in the back of my head. I was not going to lose today,” Zverev said.

The German broke Sinner in the seventh game and drew level at 4-4, but neither player was able to hold serve again as the set headed to a tiebreak, where Zverev’s booming forehand came to the fore as he sealed the opener.

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Zverev tightened his grip on the match with an early break in the second set, and with his potent serve finally firing, raced into a 5-2 lead before closing out the contest with a confident hold to love.

The German will face Diego Schwartzman in Sunday’s final after the Argentine second seed survived a spirited fightback from Auger-Aliassime to beat the youngster 6-4 5-7 6-4 in the other semi-final.