TURIN/WASHINGTON, November 15, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)
A pair of Top 10 foes, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and No. 5 Andrey Rublev of Russia, met for the first time as the second day of singles action in the Red Group at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy began.
With both players coming off opening losses on Monday, to Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev, respectively, it became imperative for both Alcaraz and Rublev to get in the win column on Wednesday in order to keep their hopes alive to advance out of group play and into Saturday’s semifinal round.
PERFECT 🔟@carlosalcaraz earns a personal-best 10th Top 10 win of the season and his first victory in the Red Group! #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/fLlc6LuI8e
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 15, 2023
By the end of Alcaraz’s aggressive 7-5, 6-2 victory, achieved in an efficient one hour and 14 minutes, the 20-year-old Spaniard – the youngest player in this year’s field – won as much for his acrobatic movement, stellar forehands and dazzling returns as he did from being witness to Rublev’s self-destruction on the court and physical self-abuse with his tennis racquets, which left him with a bloodied knee and bruised feelings.
Carlos Finding His Mojo 🪄@carlosalcaraz secures his first #NittoATPFinals win defeating Rublev 7-5 6-2! pic.twitter.com/MgkARqd6jB
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 15, 2023
By the end, when Alcaraz surged ahead by a double break at 5-2, then served out the win at love, he had shown his dominance. Alcaraz won 94 percent of his first-serve points, hit 21 winners to just 11 unforced errors and converted three of six break points. He outpointed Rublev 65-43. The Muscovite, who countered with 10 winners, made 15 unforced errors and was unable to produce any break-point opportunities on Alcaraz’s serve.
“It was a totally different match and level from me. This is the level I have to play if I want to give myself a chance in this amazing tournament,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “Yesterday was a good day for me in practice to find the level I needed to show today and I think I did pretty well. I am very happy with my level.”
ALCARAZ FROM DOWNTOWN TURIN 🦸@carlosalcaraz | #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/72tuGZ6eMo
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 15, 2023
The victory over the 26-year-old Rublev snapped Alcaraz’s three-match losing streak, which began against Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai, continued with Roman Safiullin in Paris and ended against Zverev in Turin. He improved his 2023 season win-loss record to 64-11 and is 1-1 in group play in Turin. Alcaraz will face Medvedev (1-0) on Friday with a chance to continue his season. Meanwhile, Rublev (0-2) fell to 56-25 and will finish against Zverev (1-0).
“You feel disappointed, especially now when you understand that the season is over and that’s it basically,” Rublev expressed in his post-match press conference. “Yeah, you want to do better. You want to show – not to show, but you want at least to try to do better result, to play some great matches in the end of the season.”
Alcaraz, who is making his Nitto ATP Finals debut this year, was upbeat as he spoke in his post-match press conference. “I think it was a pretty good match from my side,” he said. “I think the key was to show my game. Doesn’t matter if I could have won or lost, it’s just to show my style, my game. I think that I did that pretty well.”
When asked what he needs to do to be successful in Turin, Alcaraz replied, “I need to relax. It is really, really fast the court. I need to hit first. You need to be more aggressive than your opponent. I think that is key if you want to have chances in this tournament.”
Defence ➡️ Attack@carlosalcaraz #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/bMLYOsMgXr
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 15, 2023
Around the Pala Alpitour
No. 3 seeds Rohan Bopanna of India and Matthew Ebden of Australia kept their Nitto ATP Finals semifinal hopes alive after defeating Australian’s Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 10 minutes Wednesday afternoon. The victory improved the Indian/Aussie pair’s record to 1-0 in Red Group play with one match remaining, while the eighth-seeded Aussies dropped to 0-2.
Bopanna and Ebden combined for 12 aces, lost only one point on their first serve and saved the only break point they faced. They outpointed their opponents 62-42.
Up and running in the RED GROUP 🔴✅@rohanbopanna 🤝 @mattebden #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/Kd0ZKlnB9b
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 15, 2023
At age 43, Bopanna became the oldest player in tournament history to win a match at the Nitto ATP Finals.
On Friday, Bopanna and Ebden (1-1) will play No. 2 seeds Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neal Skupski of Great Britain (1-0), who face defending champions Rajeev Ram of the United States and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain (1-0) Wednesday evening with first place in the Red Group up for grabs.
By the numbers
World No. 7 Alexander Zverev of Germany improved to 5-1 in Nitto ATP Finals opening group matches with his win over World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz on Monday. On Wednesday evening, he’s looking to start 2-0 for the first time in six appearances. He is 1-4 in his second group matches with his lone win coming over Diego Schwartzman in 2020. Zverev is looking to beat Top 3 opponents in back-to-back matches since posting wins over No. 1 Novak Djokovic (semifinals) and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev (finals) in Turin two years ago.
“Quotable …”
“It’s normal to lose some of the matches like this, but I have to be content with the fight, fighting spirit. I managed to make a comeback from set down, break down in the third set. Played in really challenging and difficult conditions on the court today. I’m proud of the fight that I put in. It just wasn’t enough for the win.”
– World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic during his post-match press conference following his three-set loss to Jannik Sinner Tuesday night.
