Turin, November 14 (IANS). Alexander Zverev continued his stellar form at the ATP Finals as the German recorded his second win of the week with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over Casper Ruud.
Although Ruud appeared full of confidence after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in his opening match, Zverev defeated the Norwegian with an 86-minute performance at the Inalpi Arena.
With his tour-leading 68 wins in 2024, Zverev takes a 2-0 lead in the John Newcombe Group. The Rome and Paris champions face Alcaraz in their final group match on Friday as they look to secure their semi-final spot.
Zverev is looking for his third ATP Finals title, having previously won the trophy in London in 2018 and Turin in 2021. Zverev and Ruud were level in a fascinating opening set, with no break points but several excellent rallies. However, the second-seeded German regained control at the time, taking a 6–1 lead in the tie-break and eventually securing the set.
Something similar happened in the second set, in which Ruud put up a tough fight against Zverev’s fast serve and crisp groundstrokes. As the match headed towards another tie-break, Zverev took advantage of a rare drop in Ruud’s serve to take a vital 5–3 lead. From that point on, Zverev made no mistakes, comfortably recording his second win of the week following his previous win over Andrei Rublev on Monday. Zverev arrived in Turin with the most ATP Finals experience among the eight singles players. According to the ATP, the 27-year-old is competing in the event for the seventh time and has an overall win/loss record of 16-9.
–IANS
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