Top seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev has powered past Stefanos Tsitsipas to earn a place in the final of the Citi Open in Washington.

The 21-year-old German broke 19-year-old Tsitsipas in the ninth game of the second set to go up 5-4 and then served out the match 6-2 6-4.

Zverev became the first player on the ATP Tour to claim 40 wins in 2018.

He will play the winner of Saturday’s evening semi-final between unseeded Australian Alex de Minaur and Russian 16th seed Andrey Rublev.

World No.3 Zverev controlled the match against the 10th-seeded Tsitsipas with solid ground strokes and consistent high-bouncing serves.

It was the first meeting between the two players, who are among a cohort of young competitors challenging the established stars.

Zverev heads into Sunday’s final of the ATP World Tour event looking to win his thirdtitle this year after victories in Munich and Madrid.