Carlos Alcaraz falls to Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev tops Andrey Rublev at ATP Finals

TURIN – Alexander Zverev battled back from a set down to beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4 at the ATP Finals on Monday, as Daniil Medvedev won 6-4, 6-2 in a Russian derby against his friend Andrey Rublev.

Germany’s Zverev, a two-time winner at the year-ending tournament, put on a powerful display to see off world No. 2 Alcaraz, who was not at his best after returning from injury at the end of October.

Zverev is tough opposition on hard courts like the one at the Pala Alpitour in Turin.

He made full use of his height and power in the Red Group clash to see off Alcaraz, who looked far from being the ageless Novak Djokovic’s chief competitor for the title.

The 26-year-old Zverev rattled off 16 aces and was broken just once in an impressive win in which he hit more winners and made significantly fewer unforced errors than the out-of-sorts Alcaraz.

“In the beginning of this year, I was nowhere near at his level,” said Zverev.

“I’m just happy to be back at the level where I’m competitive with these guys, where I feel like I can win.

“I feel like I can compete for tournaments again.”

Wimbledon champion Alcaraz has struggled with lower back and left foot problems which had kept him out of action since the Shanghai Masters in early October until the Paris Masters.

He was dumped out early in the French capital by Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin and flagged towards the end of a bruising contest with the giant Zverev, the seventh seed in Turin.

However, Alcaraz insisted that he was not struggling back to form after his lay-off.

“I’m one of the players who has played most matches on tour... I feel good physically,” insisted Alcaraz.

“I don’t think I need more matches (to be in top condition).”

He did, however, blame the court, saying: “I don’t know why they put this surface at the end of the year.

“I don’t understand why they’ve set the speed so high for this tournament when we have never played on a surface like this all year.”

Before Zverev’s victory, Novak Djokovic was presented with the trophy for finishing the season as the world No. 1.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner secured that position after winning his thrilling Green Group opener with Holger Rune on Monday, a match which lasted more than three hours.

Djokovic is red-hot favourite to claim his seventh Finals title, which would put him out of his own as the record winner, one ahead of retired great and old rival Roger Federer.

“Winning Grand Slams and being No. 1 in the world are probably the pinnacles of the sport,” said Djokovic on court.

Medvedev moved above Zverev – his next opponent – to top the Red Group with a straightforward win over his childhood friend and fellow Russian Rublev.

Third seed Medvedev needed just one hour and 31 minutes to win the seventh of his nine encounters with Rublev.

The match turned on the game which would end up handing Medvedev the first set, a 17-point thriller over more than 10 minutes.

Rublev then lost his head after losing the first set.

He gave up his serve in the first game of the second set from there, allowing Medvedev to cruise to victory to take charge in the group.

Medvedev said: “I like to play aggressive on my serve.

“Rublev plays in such a style that he doesn’t give me any other option because I don’t have the power of Alcaraz or (Stefanos) Tsitsipas on my forehand.”

Meanwhile, Tsitsipas retired after just three games of his Green Group clash against Holger Rune on Tuesday.

That handed the Danish debutant his first victory in the tournament.

The Greek world No. 6, appeared to be troubled by a back problem as he trailed 2-1.

After consulting a doctor at the changeover he decided that he could not continue. AFP, REUTERS