Turin (dpa) – Tokyo Olympic champion Alexander Zverev is one victory short of a personal premiere at the season finale of the year’s best tennis professionals. If the Hamburger also wins against Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz in Turin today (2 p.m./Sky), he would complete the group phase without defeat for the first time in his seventh participation.
In recent years, Zverev has always lost at least once in the preliminary round. Also in 2018 and 2021, when he triumphed in the final at the ATP Finals.
The mode is unusual in tennis. Normally, if players lose, they are eliminated. In the other events on the ATP Tour, as in the Grand Slam tournaments, the knockout mode applies from the start. The season finale starts with group games. The knockout mode only applies in the semi-finals.
Zverev could meet Fritz at the next important tournament
Alcaraz, who started the season finale weakened due to an illness, is likely to be the most difficult endurance test for Zverev so far at this year’s edition in Turin. The four-time Grand Slam tournament winner ruined Zverev’s desired French Open title in Paris in five sets in June. Zverev won the only meeting at the ATP annual finals a year ago in three sets.
Zverev has already survived the group phase and reached the semi-finals three times at the ATP Finals: 2018, 2019 and 2021. This time, winning a set against Alcaraz is enough for him to make it through.
If he wins the group, Zverev would see the American US Open finalist Taylor Fritz, against whom he lost at the US Open and Wimbledon, in the semi-finals on Saturday. If Zverev comes second, he would face the Italian world number one Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.
