When Alexander Zverev’s world-class attack game is clicking on all cylinders on an indoor hard court the German can be near impossible to stop.
That was the case yet again today as the German battled past Casper Ruud in a high-quality affair, 7-6(3), 6-3, to remain undefeated at the ATP Finals.
Two-time ATP Finals champion (2018 and 2021) Zverev, who claimed the Paris Masters title 10 days ago, stretches his current winning streak to seven victories and heads into the final day of group play at the top of the table, undefeated at 2-0.
Second-seeded Zverev will face third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz on Friday in Turin.
“It was a good match,” he said. “I thought both of us played quite good tennis and I’m happy with the win. I’m looking forward to Carlos now on Friday and hopefully a few more matches over the weekend."
Alcaraz bounced back from a lethargic loss to Ruud on Monday in Turin and defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6(8). Zverev and Alcaraz have split their ten ATP meetings, with the Spaniard taking their last meeting in five thrilling sets in the 2024 Roland-Garros final.
Alcaraz had been under the weather earlier this week, but appears to have made a full recovery. He was his usual energetic self in his win over Ruud on Wednesday.
Zverev does own a 4-2 edge over Alcaraz on hard courts, with wins over the Spaniard at last year’s ATP Finals, and the Australian Open in January, but he lost their most recent hard court meeting at Indian Wells in March.
The German, making his seventh ATP Finals appearance, will look to ride the high-octane serving that helped him get past a determined Ruud on Wednesday. He fired 11 aces past the Norwegian and never faced a break point. Zverev lost just 11 points on serve in total, and he converted the only break point he saw in the eighth game of the second set to make his day a little less stressful.
The German improves to 68-20 on the year with his win, and 16-9 lifetime at the ATP Finals.