Carlos Alcaraz suffered a loss in his first appearance at the ATP Finals in Turin against Alexander Zverev. The 20-year-old was unable to participate in the event last year due to an injury and his inconsistent performance towards the end of the season continued as he was defeated 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 in his first round-robin match.
Alcaraz overcame a deficit to secure the first set via a tie-break, but quickly fell behind in the second set. Zverev then maintained a more consistent performance, resulting in an exciting match with impressive shots from both competitors.
Alcaraz suffered his third consecutive loss, having been defeated by Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters and then suffering an unexpected loss to Roman Safiullin in his first match at the Paris Masters.
Zverev, a two-time former champion at the event, has surged back into form over the second half of the season following the ankle injury at the French Open last year that ruled him out for seven months.
During the third set, he experienced a concerning incident where he twisted his ankle. However, he downplayed any worries afterwards and stated on Amazon Prime Video that it’s satisfying to defeat top players like him. It’s a meaningful victory to win on this court once more.
Zverev’s next opponent will be Daniil Medvedev, who began his tournament with a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 win against Andrey Rublev.
Medvedev was defeated by Rublev at this point in time a year ago, but this time, he was able to get back at his fellow Russian. Rublev made a few mistakes on his own and ultimately lost his serve in the seventh game of the first set.
Medvedev successfully defended against his opponent’s attacks, fending off seven break points in his next two service games and ultimately securing a one-set advantage.
Rublev, who will face Alcaraz in the next round, lost his service game at the start of the second set. Meanwhile, Medvedev was able to break Rublev’s serve again and ultimately won the match in 91 minutes.
UK’s Neal Skupski had a successful start to his doubles campaign with Dutch teammate Wesley Koolhof. The pair, who were Wimbledon champions, are competing in their last tournament together as Koolhof has decided to end their highly successful partnership. They will aim to finish strong and easily beat the Australian team of Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler with a score of 6-3, 6-4.
