Alcaraz rallies past Rublev to revive semis hopes at ATP Finals

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.

Rublev meanwhile drops to last place after losing his sixth straight Finals match, although he put up a battle and had two opportunities to win the second set.

The Russian will be cheering on Zverev later as he will be eliminated should Ruud win and secure passage to the knockout stage.

On Thursday world number one Jannik Sinner will reach the last four if he claims a single set against Daniil Medvedev, and will top the Ilie Nastase Group with a third straight win.

Earlier, Sinner hit the accelerator at the end of each set as he cruised past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday to close in on a semi-final spot.

In September, Sinner had to overcome raucous home support to win his last meeting with the American as he claimed victory in the final of the US Open, also in straight sets.

This time, the Turin crowd was nosily behind the Italian.

“The crowd is helping me a lot,” said Sinner on the court.

The hard-hitting Fritz, ranked number five, put pressure on Sinner’s serve early in the first set. The American had the first break point of the match in the 14-minute seventh game but could not take his chance.

Sinner responded at once, but wasted three break points in the next game before breaking to 15 in the 10th game to take the set.

“I was struggling to return his serve but I am happy with how I handled the situation,” said Sinner.

The second set also went with serve until the 10th game when Fritz double-faulted on Sinner’s first match point.

“It was a very tough match,” said Sinner. “We got to know each other very well in a Grand Slam final, we knew exactly what to expect today it was very aggressive as I was prepared for.”

Victory put Sinner top of the Ilie Nastase group with just Daniil Medvedev to face. The home favourite could still be eliminated with a straight-sets loss.

Agence France-Presse