Due to his fall season, Carlos Alcaraz is not among the closest favorites for the title at the $15 million ATP Finals.
Confirmation of this was received on Monday evening when the world number two from Spain had to bow to the two-time “Masters” winner Alexander Zverev 7:6 (3), 3: 6, 4: 6. While the German celebrates, Alcaraz then complains about what he sees as the surface at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, which was made far too quickly.
“I don’t know why they choose such a surface at the end of the year,” said Alcaraz at his press conference. “All the tournaments we play on hard courts are so, so slow and then we come to the Masters and they do it so fast,” complains the 20-year-old Spaniard.
Alcaraz wants to preserve its chance of promotion with a win over Rublev
Despite the defeat against Zverev, the Wimbledon winner still has a chance of being promoted from his group. “This tournament is different for many reasons, one being that you can still advance to the semifinals despite losing in the first match,” Alcaraz later posted on Instagram.
His next match against Andrey Rublev will be a duel between two losers. The Russian had no chance in the evening match against his compatriot Daniil Medvedev at 4:6,2:6.
In any case, Zverev and Medvedev are happy about a successful start. “I’m happy to be here again. I’m happy that I have my first win under my belt,” says Zverev, who was injured last year and hit 16 aces at the start.
Vienna finalist Medvedev had little trouble making it 7-2 in the head-to-head with Rublev, especially after the first set against his daughter’s godfather and good friend. “It felt good and I was able to quickly gain an advantage,” says Medvedev.
On Tuesday afternoon, Stefanos Tsitsipas will meet Holger Rune in the other group, and in the evening there will be a clash between Novak Djokovic and Vienna champion Jannik Sinner. This constellation could certainly also exist in the final.
2023-11-14 10:08:57
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