The German Alexander Zverev signed his third victory in as many matches at the ATP Masters, Friday in Turin, beating 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz who was eliminated.
Like world No.1 Jannik Sinner the day before, Zverev scored a success in the group stage with a third victory in straight sets, which gave him his ticket to the semi-finals. Also assured of finishing in first place in his group, the world No.2 knows the name of his next opponent, the American Taylor Fritz, 5th in the world and runner-up to Sinner in the “Ilie Nastase” group.
Alcaraz sick and diminished
Alcaraz was eliminated, even before the last group match on Friday evening between the Russian Andrey Rublev (7th) and the Norwegian Casper Ruud (8th). The Spaniard will be able to join Rafael Nadal in Malaga for the final phase of the Davis Cup.
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Beaten at the start of the week by Ruud for his entry into the running (6-1, 7-5), Alcaraz, ill for several days, revived by beating Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), but failed to worry Zverev, notably due to a faulty serve. The German had no less than seven break points in the first set, but did not convert any against an opponent who briefly found himself on important points.
“It was a very high-level match, especially at the end of the first set and in the tie-break there were huge points, I felt like I was playing against Spiderman,” Zverev said.
69th victory of the season for Zverev
In the deciding game, Zverev quickly took off and pocketed the first set in 65 minutes, before the recent winner of the Masters 1000 in Paris immediately made the entry break in the second set.
Even if Alcaraz offered himself break points for the first time in the match in the fifth game, Zverev, formidable on his serve, did not tremble and signed his 69th victory of the season on his first match point, the eighth in a row.
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