Alcaraz drops into contention for semis

TURIN, Italy — Carlos Alcaraz had his drop shot clicking and it helped him overcome physical issues to claim a 6-3, 7-6 (8) victory over Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals on Wednesday.

The win put Alcaraz back into contention for a spot in the semifinals of the year-ending tournament for the top eight players, after he was beaten by Casper Ruud in straight sets in his opener.

Also, Alexander Zverev made it two wins in two matches by beating Ruud 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Zverev leads the group, Alcaraz and Ruud have one win each, and Rublev dropped to 0-2 after losing to Zverev in their opener.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner leads the other group ahead of Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur.

The top two finishers in each round-robin group advance to the semifinals.

Alcaraz said after the Ruud match on Monday that he hadn't been feeling well and was "uncomfortable in the stomach". The Spaniard then cut short a practice session on Tuesday.

"I just tried to be focused on my game, on what I have to do, and forget about the fact that I'm not feeling well, I'm sick and all that stuff," Alcaraz said.

Alcaraz wore a pink nose strip to help with his breathing. "It is something that I'm going to wear more often," he said. "I can recover better between points."

Alcaraz produced several drop-shot winners, and, on the occasions when Rublev did run down the short balls, the Spaniard hit winners into the open court on his next shot.

Late in the second set, Alcaraz even produced a drop-shot approach volley winner. In the second set tiebreaker, he saved two set points.

"I felt like the last month, I couldn't hit good drops," said Alcaraz, who fell to No 3 in the rankings this week behind Zverev. "And I was thinking, 'what's going on?' You know, my style, my game is about playing these kinds of shots ... so I tried to do it today."

In all, Alcaraz produced more than twice as many winners as Rublev, 31-14.

"I think he missed only one when he was 40-0 up," Rublev said of Alcaraz's drop shots. "All the rest he won."

Rublev meanwhile drops to last place after losing his sixth straight Finals match, although he put up a battle and had two opportunities to win the second set.

Alcaraz winning in straight sets meant that Ruud would have reached the semifinals with a match to spare if he had beaten two-time Finals champion Zverev in the day's late match.

However, Zverev put on a punishing display to prevail in straight sets 7-6 (3), 6-3 and all-but ensured himself a spot in the last four with his second win in as many matches.

Zverev took charge of the match in the tiebreaker at the end of a first set, which before then had gone entirely with serve, and the pair exchanged blows until the German broke in game eight of the second set and then served to love to win the match.

"I think it was a very good match actually, from both of us," said Zverev on court.

"I'm happy to win today, but it was very, very close. One or two points decided the first set, and I thought the level was very high from both of us."

Leader Zverev can eliminate Alcaraz in his final match of the group stage on Friday, when Ruud takes on Rublev.

Zverev served 11 aces and didn't face a single break point, staying on course for a third trophy at the Finals after titles in London in 2018 and in Turin in 2021.

Zverev extended his winning streak to seven matches following his title run at the Paris Masters.

Lately, after his matches, Zverev has come back out to practice.

"I want to develop my game further so I can compete with Jannik and Carlos," Zverev said. "They're the two benchmarks right now. They're the ones that are winning Grand Slams. I want to be part of that group. I know they're going to improve, so I have to keep up."

On Thursday, world No 1 Jannik Sinner will reach the last four if he claims a single set against Daniil Medvedev, and will top the Ilie Nastase Group if he wins.

Agencies