ATP Finals: Zverev tops Ruud to continue impressive run

Turin: Alexander Zverev maintained his red-hot late-season form at the ATP Finals as the German downed Casper Ruud 7-6(3), 6-3 to notch his second victory of the week at the season finale. Although Ruud appeared full of confidence after upsetting Carlos Alcaraz in his opening match, Zverev ground down the Norwegian with 86-minute display at Inalpi Arena. With his Tour-leading 68 victory of 2024, Zverev improved to 2-0 in John Newcombe Group. The Rome and Paris champion will take on Alcaraz in his final group match on Friday, when he will bid to secure his semifinal spot. Zverev is chasing his third ATP Finals title, having previously lifted the trophy in London in 2018 and Turin in 2021. Zverev and Ruud were evenly matched in a captivating opening set, which saw no break points but plenty of high-quality rallies. It was the second-seeded German, however, who seized control when it counted, racing to a dominant 6-1 lead in the tie-break and ultimately securing the set. The second set unfolded in much the same way, with Ruud putting up a strong fight against Zverev’s booming serve and crisp groundstrokes. Just as the match appeared headed for another tie-break, Zverev pounced on a rare dip in Ruud’s serve to break for a crucial 5-3 lead. From that point, Zverev made no mistake, comfortably sealing his second win of the week after his earlier victory over Andrey Rublev on Monday. Zverev arrived in Turin with the most ATP Finals experience of the eight singles players. The 27-year-old is competing at the event for the seventh time, and he has racked up a 16-9 win/loss record overall, according to ATP. It means I’m old. But I still don’t feel old. I hope I have another solid 10 years ahead of me, but I think it’s a young group of guys. There has been kind of a shift in tennis this year and I think it’s a good thing. They’re exciting new players and everybody loves watching them,” said Zverev. –IANS