Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by Alexander Zverev on his ATP Finals debut in Turin. The 20-year-old missed the occasion final yr by way of damage and his shaky late-season type continued with a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 defeat in his opening round-robin match.
Alcaraz got here from a break right down to win the primary set on a tie-break, however instantly fell behind within the second and it was Zverev who was the steadier from there on in a contest that featured some spectacular pictures from each gamers.
The defeat was a 3rd in a row for Alcaraz, who was crushed by Grigor Dimitrov within the fourth spherical of the Shanghai Masters earlier than a shock defeat towards Roman Safiullin in his first match on the Paris Masters.
Zverev, a two-time former champion on the occasion, has surged again into type over the second half of the season following the ankle damage on the French Open final yr that dominated him out for seven months.
He had a worrying second within the third set when he went over on his ankle, however he performed down any considerations afterwards, and mentioned on Amazon Prime Video: “It’s all the time good to beat the perfect gamers on this planet and he’s undoubtedly one in all them. It’s particular to win on this courtroom once more.”
Earlier, Britain’s Neal Skupski made a successful begin to his marketing campaign within the doubles with Dutch associate Wesley Koolhof. The Wimbledon champions are enjoying of their last match collectively after Koolhof selected to finish the vastly profitable partnership. They may look to exit on a excessive and comfortably defeated Australian duo Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-4.
