From our correspondent Marco Iaria
November 13, 2024 (changed at 10.55pm) – TORINO
Alexander Zverev confirms his state of grace and wins again at the Finals, without losing a set. This time Casper Ruud ends up on the mat, with the score 7-6 (3) 6-3. It is the seventh consecutive victory for the world no.2 on the circuit, after the success at the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy. But it is a victory that does not yet give the German the arithmetic certainty of progressing to the semi-finals in Turin. The finish line is practically one step away. Everything, however, will be decided on the last day, when Zverev will face Alcaraz and Ruud will face Rublev. There is only one combination of results that would put Zverev’s qualification at risk. If Alcaraz and Ruud win their respective matches by two sets to zero, the final ranking will see the trio in the lead, with the same quotient of sets won. So we should go and look at the game percentage.
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the match
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Ruud is on the ball, he leans well on the Turin indoor carpet and the victory on his debut in the Finals against Alcaraz attests to his excellent form. Zverev struggles to take countermeasures. In any case, the first set is dominated by serves until the tie break, where the Norwegian actually arrives with 90% of his first balls. Not even the emotion of a break point, before the roulette that decides the partial. And here the strongest emerges. Ruud feels the tension, makes mistakes like he hadn’t done before, while Zverev takes command of the exchanges and flies 4-1. Two aces in a row, the second of which was at 233 km per hour, put the set in the safe for the German who closed 7-3. In the second set the trend of the serves continues until 4-3 for Zverev. The world no. 2 takes the lead again, also taking advantage of the weaknesses of his opponent who evidently feels these key moments. There’s the break. Then the German easily closes the serve, for the final 6-3.
