Second game, second victory: Alexander Zverev has the semifinals close in sight on his title mission at the ATP Finals. The second in the world rankings from Hamburg beat Norwegian Casper Ruud 7:6 (7:3), 6:3 with strong nerves and goes into the showdown with Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz on Friday with great self-confidence. Zverev can make it to the semi-finals can only be taken if there is a straight defeat against Alcaraz and a corresponding victory for Ruud (against Andrei Rublew) in a complicated three-way comparison. Zverev is aiming for his third title in the annual ranking of the best eight tennis professionals after 2018 and 2021 in the Italian metropolis.
The Hamburg native traveled to Turin with a tailwind after his triumph at the Masters in Paris-Bercy and has confirmed his outstanding late form so far. For the Tokyo Olympic champion, a triumph in Turin would be the highlight of a complicated season with many ups and downs, in which he has now won 68 matches, more than any other player on the tour.
The German doubles Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz have already reached the round of the last four
Around an hour after the German doubles Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz reached the semi-finals early (7:5 and 6:4 against the Italian doubles Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori), the game began at eye level. The decision of the first set came in the tiebreak, in which Zverev showed better nerves. In the second round there were initially no break chances before Zverev grabbed hold when the score was 4:3 – and a little later used his first match point to win.