Laura Robson made Zverev feel a bit uncomfortable on Monday, Tim Henman has been dispatched down to the mixed zone for this interview. He apologises that it’s him rather than Laura doing the interview, joking that she has something better to do. Zverev laughs, before saying:
I thought it was an extremely high-level match, especially in the tie-break and last game. I’m happy I stayed cool in the important moments. Taylor beat me in some big matches this year, I wasn’t 100% [physically] at Wimbledon, but he completely outplayed me at the US Open. There are a lot of things I could have done better, hopefully I learn from that.
ATP Finals record:
It means I’m old! But I still don’t feel old. I hope I have another solid 10 years ahead of me, but I think it’s a young group of guys. There has been kind of a shift in tennis this year and I think it’s a good thing. They’re exciting new players and everybody loves watching them.
I’m expecting a tough match [against Alcaraz], we’ve played some very tough battles in grand slams this year. I’m looking forward to it and hopefully it will be fun to watch.
ATP Finals last year.
The 27-year-old Zverev, the 2018 and 2021 champion, is making his seventh appearance at the ATP Finals, the most of any competitor this year, while the 21-year-old Alcaraz is looking for his first season-ending title at only the second attempt.
Carlos Alcaraz v Alex Zverev on the final day of the group stage, with Casper Ruud against Andrey Rublev to come di note.
After Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz booked their semi-final places yesterday, the qualification permutations today are more complex and confusing than revisiting an episode of Twin Peaks. Even Zverev, with two wins from two, is not guaranteed to advance, but he does at least know that winning one set would confirm his last-four spot – though he could still progress with a straight-sets defeat.
The two-time ATP Finals champion has been in superb touch so far. Arriving in Turin off the back of his victory at the Paris Masters and having reclaimed the world No 2 spot, he’s yet to drop a set this week, so comes into this match fresh and focused. But will the German be carrying any scar tissue from this year’s French Open final defeat by Alcaraz, when he led by two sets to one before the Spaniard ran away with it in the fourth and fifth?
Alcaraz, meanwhile, will be hoping there aren’t too many lingering effects of the illness he was struggling with in his first two matches. After being routed by Ruud in straight sets, he armed himself with antibiotics, a pot of chest rub and a nasal strip to defeat Rublev, but the Wimbledon champion knows he’ll need greater artillery to defeat an in-form Zverev this afternoon.
The match begins at about: 2pm local time/1pm GMT.
In the meantime: this should get you in the mood.
