Carlos Alcaraz did not feel bad about the bad weather as he beat Andrey Rublev in impressive fashion to revive his hopes in the ATP Finals on Wednesday.
The Spaniard, winner of four Grand Slam titles, was suffering from respiratory problems in Turin, and wore a pink stripe on his nose against Rublev, but he achieved a landslide victory 6-3 and 7-6 (8).
The third seed, who is trying to win the title for the first time, appeared stronger than he did during his opening match in the group, which ended with a defeat in two straight sets against Norwegian Casper Ruud.
After sharing the first six games, Alcaraz broke Rublev’s serve with a powerful forehand and won five games in a row to take control of the match.
Rublev, the world No. 8 who also lost his opening match, to Alexander Zverev, was able to stay with Alcaraz in the second set and could have had a few break points at 2-2 if he had not missed a routine ball after chasing downs. shot.
At the end of the exciting match, Alcaraz was able to save two set points in the tie-break before clinching the victory. Rublev has now lost six straight ATP Finals matches in straight sets since reaching the semi-finals in 2022.
“I surprised myself,” Alcaraz, who had to withdraw from a training session on Tuesday, said in court. “I just tried to focus on my game and what I had to do and not that I wasn’t feeling well. Once you get on the field you have to forget about it. I felt good running from the baseline and I felt like I had more options today.
In the late match in the John Newcombe set, former two-time champion Alexander Zverev confirmed his impressive late-season form to defeat Ruud 7-6 (3), 6-3 for his second win of the week.
The world number two raised the temperature in the first set tiebreak, hitting a couple of aces to power up the tiebreak en route to winning the opener. Ruud wasted only nine first serves throughout the match, but the errors he made when he was 4-3 down in the second set were costly, as Zverev got the decisive break of serve.
Nothing has been decided yet in the group, but Alcaraz will likely need to beat Zverev in his final group match on Friday in order to qualify. “We’ve had some very tough fights at Grand Slams this year, so I expect a tough match,” Zverev said of his match with Alcaraz. “I’m looking forward to it and I hope it’s fun to watch.”
The opening match of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals between Spain and Poland has been postponed due to a severe weather alert in the Malaga area. The organizers said that the decision was taken “based on the directives of the relevant authorities to ensure the health and safety of all participants and attendees.”
The match was postponed to Friday, and the tournament is scheduled to begin on Thursday with matches between Japan, Romania, Slovakia and the United States. Twelve teams are in Malaga to compete in the women’s tournament, with the men’s Davis Cup final starting at the same venue the following week.
This article was modified on November 14, 2024. An earlier version incorrectly stated that the United States would play Slovenia. In fact they will play Slovakia.
