French Open finalist Alexander Zverev mastered his first task on the way to his third triumph at the ATP Finals with a convincing performance. The tennis world number two won his first group game against Andrei Rublev from Russia 6:4, 6:4. Boris Becker, a guest in the stands, also saw how Zverev took the first step towards the semi-finals in Turin with his brilliant serve. Zverev only needed 72 minutes to win.
“I made good use of my chances,” said Zverev, but had to turn away during the interview to cough. “Against him I know I have to be aggressive from the first point to the last. “I’m happy about the match,” Zverev explained afterwards on Sky: “I hope that I can play even better in the next games.”
The 2021 Olympic champion must finish at least second in his group of four to reach the semifinals of the million-dollar event on Saturday. In a duel between two opening winners, Zverev will face Casper Ruud on Wednesday in his second of three preliminary round games in this year’s edition. Zverev is also the favorite in this game. Another win could be enough to advance.
Zverev with lung problems
The Norwegian surprisingly started the season finale with a 6:1, 7:5 against French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz. However, the Spaniard had become ill before his arrival and, as he explained, felt “bad” in the match.
Zverev has had lung problems since the summer. But he said he felt okay these days. The German number one is contesting the year-end spurt of the men’s tour strengthened by the title in Paris-Bercy. In addition to the crowd favorite Jannik Sinner, who was named number one at the end of the year by Becker before the match, Zverev is considered the biggest candidate for the title. In 2018 and 2021, Zverev won the ATP Finals of the eight best tennis professionals of the season.
Zverev had no chance in Rublev’s first service games
The match against Rublev started evenly. Zverev initially couldn’t do anything when his powerful opponent was serving. But the Hamburg player didn’t let that bother him; he didn’t allow anything to happen in his games either and waited for his chance.
It came at 3:3. Until then, Zverev had not scored a point on the opponent’s service. Then Rublyov helped Zverev break with several minor mistakes. Zverev was ahead for the first time at 4:3, and the first set was secured after 34 minutes.
The second round was also very competitive. The world number two was able to secure the decisive advantage with the break at 5:4. Zverev was able to rely on his serve throughout the match and did not have to fend off a breakball.
