It was an eventful day at the 2024 ATP Finals. Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev advanced in round-robin action.
On Monday, Alcaraz suffered a shocking straight-set loss to Casper Ruud, but it was later revealed that he has been battling sickness.
Though he has not fully recovered, he played a much different match against Andrey Rublev on Wednesday, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6. His contrasting performance over these two rounds is indicative of his up-and-down season which resulted in two Grand Slam wins (French Open and Wimbledon).
Alcaraz d. Rublev 6-3 7-6 at ATP Finals in Turin
Carlos still clearly isn’t 100%, but he looked a lot better than he did in his last match.
He leads the head to head with Andrey 2-1.
Rebounding nicely after a tough start to the week.
✅53rd win of 2024
On the mend. 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/uxfslLMHxY
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) November 13, 2024
Alcaraz is now 1-1 overall; however, Alexander Zverev remains undefeated at 2-0 after defeating Casper Ruud 7-6, 6-3.
Alexander Zverev defeats Casper Ruud 7-5(3), 6-3 to go up 2-0 in the Newcombe group. Very close to qualifying but not yet.
Nobody qualified, nobody eliminated.
Great match but poor ending from Casper. pic.twitter.com/QIrfY0X4Bs
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 13, 2024
It Could Be The Zverev and Sinner Show in the Finals
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and World No. 2 Alexander Zverev have played the best tennis at this year’s ATP Finals. Zverev won his 68th match of the year, and Sinner will go for his 68th win on Thursday.
Zverev defeated Casper Ruud on Wednesday in straight sets despite Ruud’s 80% first serve percentage and 10 unforced errors. It came down to a few weird bounces that went Zverev’s way. Little else separated the two players who crafted excellent rallies against each other.
Leaving it all out there 🙌
Zverev & Ruud end this epic point with a smile!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/d4PEx6ugnU
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 13, 2024
Alexander Zverev has one foot in the semis door at the ATP Finals. He has defeated Casper Ruud 76 63 for his second win from as many matches.
— Craig Gabriel (@crosscourt1) November 13, 2024
Alexander Zverev is a two-time ATP Finals champion. Each time he won, he lost in the round-robin portion of the tournament to his eventual opponent (Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev) in the final match.
Sinner remains the fan-favorite and hometown hero in Turin. If it comes down to these two players, Zverev, the German, will have minimal fan support.
