Alexander Zverev fought back to beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4 at the ATP Finals on Monday as Daniil Medvedev won the Russian derby against Andrey Rublev in 6 straight sets -4, 6-2. Germany’s Zverev, who won the tournament twice at the end of the year, produced a powerful display to see off world number two Alcaraz who has not been on top since returning from injury at the end of last month. Zverev faces tough opposition on hard courts like the one at the Pala Alpitour in Turin and used his height and power to the full in the Red Group clash to see off Alcaraz who is far from being Novak Djokovic’s main rivals for the title.
The 26-year-old Zverev hit 16 aces and was broken just once during an impressive streak in which he hit more winners and committed far fewer unforced errors than the somewhat flamboyant Alcaraz another.
“In the beginning of this year, I was not near him on his level,” Zverev told reporters.
“I am happy to be back at the level where I am competitive with the guys, when I feel like I can win, I think I can compete for tournaments again.”
Wimbledon champion Alcaraz struggled with lower back and left leg problems that kept him out of action from the Shanghai Masters in early October to the Paris Masters.
Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin dumped him early in the French capital as flags neared the end of a brutal contest with giant Zverev, the number seven seed in Turin.
Alcaraz, however, insisted he was not struggling back into form after his retirement.
“I am one of the players who have played most of the matches on tour… I feel good physically,” insisted Alcaraz.
“I don’t think I need more matches (to be in top shape).”
Prior to Zverev’s victory Novak Djokovic was awarded the trophy for finishing the season as world number one.
‘the pen’
The 24-time Grand Slam winner clinched that position after winning his exciting Group Green opener with Holger Rune on Sunday, a match that lasted more than three hours.
Djokovic is favorite to claim his seventh Finals, which would put him out of his own record as the winner, one ahead of great and old rival Roger Federer.
“Winning the Grand Slams and being number one in the world are probably the highlights of the sport,” Djokovic said on court.
Medvedev moved above Zverev — his first opponent — to top the Red Group with a straight-sets win over his childhood friend Rublev in what was once again the worst match between the two Russians.
Third seed Medvedev, who has five titles to his name this season, has now won seven of his nine matches with Rublev and needed just one hour and 31 minutes to prevail.
The match turned into what would have been the first set for Medvedev, a 17-point thriller that took more than 10 minutes to resolve and involved four breaks and set points.
Rublev has had a fine season and won this season’s Monte Carlo Masters, but struggles to step up when it counts.
And he lost his head after losing the first set, dropping his serve in the first game of the second and then allowing Medvedev to cruise to victory to lead the group.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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