Match report
Carlos Alcaraz secured his spot as world No 1 for the end of the year as he swept past Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-1 to maintain a perfect start to the ATP Finals in Turin.
The Spaniard made sure he would retain his ranking ahead of Jannik Sinner after another impressive display to end Musetti’s own hopes of further progress in front of his home crowd at the Inalpi Arena.
Alex de Minaur had earlier beaten last year’s runner-up Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3) 6-3, which saw him also make it through from the round-robin phase despite having lost his opening two matches in the Jimmy Connors group.
The Australian, who had slipped to a three-set defeat against Musetti on Tuesday night, was determined to finish the campaign on a positive, whatever the final outcome on qualification.
“I have dealt with a fair bit of heartbreak recently, so it was good to finally get a win here in Turin,” said De Minaur in quotes on the ATP Tour website. “It [defeat against Musetti] was a tough pill to swallow, but I didn’t overthink today.
“I committed to what I needed to do. There were some tough moments out there, but I continued to back myself.
“Whether it worked or didn’t, I was going to leave everything out there today and I ended up with a really good match from the start to the end.”
In the doubles, British pair Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool beat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3 7-5 to claim second spot in the Peter Fleming group.
They will go on to play Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in an all-British semi-final. PA Media
Righto, that’s us. Obviously you still want more sport, and of course we’ve got you:
Ireland, by the way, lead Portugal, who’ve had Cristiano Ronaldo shown a straight red.
Otherwise, though, that’s it from me, but join us again tomorrow for more. Until then, though, peace.
