TURIN: Carlos Alcaraz opened his account at the ATP Finals on Wednesday with an entertaining 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) win over Andrey Rublev which boosted his hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

World number three Alcaraz comfortably defeated Rublev to lift himself off the bottom of the John Newcombe Group and looked in much better form despite struggling with fatigue and illness in the lead-up to the match.

There had been some doubt as to whether Alcaraz, who lost his opening match in straight sets to Casper Ruud, would continue in Turin after quickly ending his training session on Tuesday, with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero saying that he had trouble breathing.

“I could be better, I’m not going to lie,” said Alcaraz on court after beating Rublev.

“I’ve been struggling with my health the last week and today I thought I was going to feel better. I was OK to play, but thinking about the first match I was thinking a lot about that I was sick, that I couldn’t play.

“Today I really wanted to step on the court and just think about tennis, try to play a high level … When I played the first match I felt like I did not entertain the people, I did not play good tennis.”

Alcaraz, who has won the Wimbledon and French Open titles this season, cruised to the first set in 38 minutes, breaking Rublev in game seven and quickly winning the next two to go one set ahead.

And although the Spaniard had a harder time of it in the second set he delighted the spectators with a series of spectacular shots which suggested he might be approaching his best form.

Alcaraz winning in straight sets means that Ruud will reach the semi-finals if he beats two-time Finals champion Alexander Zverev.

Rublev meanwhile drops to last place after losing his sixth straight Finals match. The Russian will be cheering on Zverev later as he will be eliminated should Ruud win and secure passage to the knockout stage.

SINNER RECORDS SECOND STRAIGHT WIN

In Tuesday’s late match, world number one Jannik Sinner made it two wins out of two as he fought off Taylor Fritz in a high-octane clash inside the Inalpi Arena.

In a repeat of September’s US Open final, home favourite Sinner delighted a raucous crowd with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the best match of the tournament so far.

American world number five Fritz went toe-to-toe with Sinner throughout a contest ultimately decided by slender margins with one break of serve in each set.

Sinner made the decisive break in the opening set when Fritz served at 4-5, bringing up a set point with a disguised drop shot and then converting at the first opportunity.

Fritz refused to go away in the second set and had a glimpse of a chance at 3-3 when Sinner fell 0-30 down on serve. Sinner averted that danger though with some fearless tennis and then exerted the pressure when Fritz served to stay in the match, clinching victory in one hour 40 minutes.

Sinner, bidding to become the first Italian to win the prestigious year-ending tournament having reached the final last year, tops the Ilie Nastase Group.

Fritz is tied on one win with Russian Daniil Medvedev while Sinner can reach the last four if he claims a single set against Medvedev on Thursday.

“It was a very tough match, we both knew exactly what to expect,” Sinner said after his 67th victory of the season.

“He was very aggressive. I managed to serve very well in the crucial moments. I’m happy how I handled the tough situations like at 3-3 in the second set when the momentum could have changed if he had broken me.”

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024