Carlos Alcaraz overcame illness to beat Andrey Rublev in impressive fashion and revive his ATP Finals hopes with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) victory in Turin.
The four-time Grand Slam champion struggled with respiratory issues during the week, which led to his defeat to Casper Ruud in the preliminary round-robin on Monday.
But the third seed, attempting to win a season-ending final for the first time, looked sharp against Rublev, condemning his opponent to a second defeat in as many matches as he won in straight sets Was.
After sharing the opening six games, Alcaraz crucially broke Rublev’s serve with a brilliant forehand winner and snapped five consecutive games to take control of the match.
Rublev, who also lost his first match to Alexander Zverev, managed to keep up with Alcaraz in the second set and could have earned a few break points at 2-2 if he had followed up a drop shot with a routine ball. There would be no loss.
Both players performed well to take the match to a high-octane tie-break, with Alcaraz having to survive two set points before sealing the win with her second match point.
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Alcaraz’s brilliant backhand winner puts him 5-3 ahead in the second set tie-break against Rublev
Rublev has lost six consecutive matches in straight sets at the ATP Finals since reaching the semi-finals in 2022.
To qualify for the last four, Alcaraz still needs to defeat world number two Zverev in his last group match. Zverev will face Ruud on Wednesday, with Ruud’s victory ensuring Rublev’s elimination.
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