Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his victory against Russia's Andrey Rublev. — AFP
Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his ATP Finals campaign on Wednesday with a thrilling 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) victory over Andrey Rublev, enhancing his chances of advancing to the semifinals. The world number three Alcaraz convincingly defeated Rublev, lifting himself from the bottom of the John Newcombe Group. Despite battling fatigue and illness prior to the match, Alcaraz appeared in much better form.
There were concerns about Alcaraz's participation in Turin after he lost his opening match in straight sets to Casper Ruud. His coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, mentioned that Alcaraz had difficulty breathing during a training session on Tuesday. "I could be better, I'm not going to lie," Alcaraz admitted after his win over Rublev. "I've been dealing with my health issues for the past week, and today I thought I would feel better. I was okay to play, but reflecting on the first match, I was preoccupied with my illness and inability to perform." He added, "Today, I was determined to step onto the court and focus solely on tennis, aiming for a high level of play... In the first match, I felt I didn't entertain the crowd or play good tennis."
Alcaraz, who has won Wimbledon and the French Open this season, swiftly took the first set in 38 minutes, breaking Rublev in the seventh game and quickly securing the next two to lead by one set. Although the Spaniard faced a tougher challenge in the second set, he thrilled the audience with a series of remarkable shots, indicating he might be regaining his peak form.
Alcaraz's straight-sets win means that Ruud will advance to the semifinals if he defeats two-time Finals champion Alexander Zverev in the day's late match. Rublev, on the other hand, falls to last place after his sixth consecutive Finals loss, despite putting up a strong fight and having two chances to win the second set. The Russian will be rooting for Zverev, as a Ruud victory would eliminate him and secure Ruud's passage to the knockout stage.
On Thursday, world number one Jannik Sinner will secure a spot in the last four if he wins a single set against Daniil Medvedev. A third consecutive win would also place Sinner at the top of the Ilie Nastase Group.
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