ATP Finals in Turin has been cast into doubt after he pulled out of practice with illness.
His coach Juan Carlos Ferrero told Spanish media the 21-year-old cut short his session after just five minutes as a chest complaint was making breathing difficult. Alcaraz is due to play Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.
Daniil Medvedev won his first indoor match since last year’s finals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Alex de Minaur. The 28-year-old Russian, who was docked a point for one of several outbursts as he lost his opening match to Taylor Fritz, this time won without facing a single break point.
“I went into this match blocking the noise, even from myself,” Medvedev said afterwards. “I really didn’t care what was happening on the court, I just tried to play, and it was a good feeling. After the last match, I was too tired mentally to fight the way I usually do. I went into the match [today] just trying to hit some shots, even thinking about next year.”
Top seed Jannick Sinner beat Taylor Fritz, his defeated opponent in the US Open final, 6-4, 6-4 for his second win of the tournament.
“It was a very tough match,” said Sinner afterwards. “We got to know each other very well in a grand slam final. We knew exactly what to expect today, he was very aggressive and I was prepared. I just tried to serve very well in the important moments, which I did. That was a very crucial [seventh] game in the second set, I was down 0-30. If he breaks me there, the momentum could change.”
Britain’s Henry Patten and partner Harri Helioevaara are on the brink of the doubles semi-finals after a second straight win, beating Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson 7-6, 7-5 in a repeat of their Wimbledon final.
ATP Finals after a late call-up in 2022, when he reached the semi-finals.
“My first time [in Turin], I was an alternate, no one really expected much of me,” Fritz said. “I was playing with house money, no pressure. Now, I’m putting more expectation on myself to do better, I’m just a better player.”
Jannik Sinner stood up.
“I have to be at my top if I want to win or get close,” Sinner told the ATP website of facing Fritz. “It’s going to be tough, this I know. I know that I will have to raise my level, so hopefully I can do that. I feel like he has improved a lot in the past one and a half, two years. He is serving much better, hitting the ball very, very hard. He’s a great competitor.”
ATP Finals debut if Sinner v Fritz goes to three sets.
transformed Daniil Medvedev defeated Alex de Minaur earlier. Sinner and Fritz both opened with straight-sets victories on Sunday – Sinner against De Minaur and Fritz against a self-combusting Medvedev – so the winner tonight will take pole position in the Ilie Nastase group, with one more set of round-robin matches to come.
What marks this evening’s contest out is that it’s a repeat of September’s US Open final. Sinner surged past the American 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in New York despite having most of the 23,000 spectators against him; this time the Italian will have the best part of 15,000 fans in Turin on his side – not that the world No 1 and winner of seven titles this season needs any extra help. He’s very much the leading man at the first ATP Finals in 23 years not to feature Federer, Nadal or Djokovic, and he’s the strong favourite to win the season-ending event for the first time, especially with an ailing Carlos Alcaraz reportedly ending his practice session after only 10 minutes earlier because of illness.
There’s talk in Turin about whether the Spaniard will be able to face Andrey Rublev in his second match tomorrow – even if he does play, the most likely challenger to Sinner for the title is now Alex Zverev, for my money – but first things first, we’ve got Sinner v Fritz to focus on tonight. The players are due to get going at about 8.30pm local time/7.30pm GMT. And do send me an email with any predictions or predilections; it’s good to have you for company.
