​Carlos Alcaraz continued his bid to reach the semi-finals of the 2023 Champions Tour as the former ATP top seed won his match against Andriy Rublev 7-5, 6-2. The Russian was nervous, repeatedly hit his leg with the racket until it bled, and interfered with himself in key moments of Wednesday’s match at Turin’s Pala Alpitura.

Set I

The match between Carlos and Andriy began suddenly, the intentions of both were clear: they put everything on the attack, and the tennis game was pleasing to the eye.

The tempo was dictated by the serve (a very important weapon for both the Spaniard and the Russian), and the returner’s chances of success were very small.

As the set progressed, Alcaraz became more and more accurate, and the return pressure eventually paid off at 5-5.

Andriy also made a double mistake, lost his temper a little, and Carlos made a break that was decisive for the victory in the leg.

After 42 minutes, the former ATP leader won the match 7-5.

Set II

The second set began with an increasingly nervous Andrii, who shouted his frustration as loud as he could in the first leg game before hitting the floor.

The loss of serve led to the fact that Rublev repeatedly hit his left leg hard with the racket (it was even bleeding).

Filled with tense inner experiences, the Russian continued to make mistakes and gave Alcaraz the opportunity to distance himself on the table (2-0).

With a high fighting spirit, Carlos managed to pass the opponent from an unequal position, created a rhythm with short breaks and tactically dominated the opponent.

Unfortunately for Andriy, nerves got the better of his feelings, and the Russian’s tennis showed more and more mistakes.

Alcaraz, on the other hand, deciphered the opponent’s play better and even managed to put on a show with his excellent pass.

Tournament of Champions debutant Alcaraz pressed the gas pedal even harder, and his forehand hurt Rublev’s defense more and more.

The break went to zero, and Rublev’s body language said it all: he already admitted that defeat was inevitable.

Carlos closed out the game on serve to earn his first career win at the ATP Finals, 7-5, 6-2. The match lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

On Wednesday from 22:00, another match of the day will take place in the Red group: Danylo Medvedev – Oleksandr Zverev. The match can be watched live on Eurosport 2.

Know:

• As hard as it is to believe, Alcaraz (2 ATP) and Rublev (5 ATP) had not met on the men’s world circuit until Wednesday.

• Carlos Alcaraz has 65 wins and 10 losses this season. He won no less than 6 titles in 2023 (Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Queens and Wimbledon) and collected $9,647,931 from this year’s prize money alone.

• This season Andriy Rublev has won 56 matches and lost 25. He has two ATP titles (Monte Carlo, Bastad) and collected only $4,795,071 in prize money.

Tournament of Champions – Records

• Most titles (in singles): Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic (6)

• Most consecutive titles (in singles): Novak Djokovic (4)

• Oldest champion: Novak Djokovic, 35 years and 5 months, 2022

• Youngest champion: John McEnroe, 19 years and 10 months, 1978

• Highest-ranked champion: 1st: Ilie Nastase (1973), Jimmy Connors (1977), Bjorn Borg (1979-80), John McEnroe (1984), Ivan Lendl (1985-87), Pete Sampras (1994, 1996) -97) , Lleyton Hewitt (2002), Roger Federer (2004, 2006-07), Novak Djokovic (2012, 2014-15, 2022) and Andy Murray (2016).

• Champion with the lowest rating: 12th place: David Nalbandyan, 2005.

• Most qualifications: Roger Federer (17)

• Most wins: Roger Federer (59).

The 2023 Tournament of Champions takes place from November 12 to 19 on hard at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. It has a total prize pool of $9,000,000, starts with the top eight players of the season, and is the reigning champion, Novak Djokovic (double won by Rajiv Ram and Joe Salisbury).