Zverev's serve defeats Alcaraz in his debut at the ATP Finals

A year ago, Carlos Alcaraz expressly went to Turin to collect the cup that accredited him as number 1 in the world in 2022. He was unable to compete in the tournament due to an abdominal injury.. This Monday, Novak Djokovic prefaced the Spaniard's debut at the ATP Finals in the ceremony that recognized him as the first tennis player of the season. There are eight courses and in which the Serbian has closed the year with the best number. The good news for Alcaraz is that this time he is fit to play in the most suggestive tournament after the four Grand Slam tournaments.. The bad news was that he lost his first Red Group match against Alexander Zverev. The German, protected by his service, won in two hours and 31 minutes. Alcaraz will need to beat Andrey Rublev this Wednesday, who lost against Daniil Medvedev 4-6 and 2-6, to keep his chances of being in the semifinals on Saturday alive.. [Narrative and statistics (6-7 [3], 6-3, 6-4)]

It took a balloon loaded with delicacy for the Spaniard to set the clock on time. He was making his debut in the masters tournament, against a two-time champion like Zverev, who had taken his serve in the fourth game and ruled the match with his own serve.. Next came a right drop shot, one of those that indicates its point of inspiration.

Alcaraz tied the game (3-3), and not only that: he then raised three other threats from the Hamburg player, whose jaw is fragile as soon as things are not going to be his way, which has a close relationship with how it works for him. the serve. He went with a second ace and with another at the intersection with which he escaped from Alcaraz's first two set balls. He would save a third, thanks to a volley outside the Murcian, but he would give little of himself in the tiebreaker.

Background

After the severe defeats suffered in this year's two matches against Alcaraz, in the round of 16 of the Madrid Masters and in the quarterfinals of the United States Open, Zverev had the opportunity to present greater opposition in one of his most favorable scenarios. , as is the indoor court, at the same time the least favorable for its rival.

He did so, aided by some concessions from the El Palmar player, who after letting a ball pass that could have taken him a shorter route at the beginning of the second set, gave up his serve next and this time paid the price of being led to a third with three aces on Zverev's final turn.

This Alcaraz from the last part of the year is a tennis player without the spark and the certainties that have led him to win six titles, including Wimbledon.. A single break in the third set ended up costing him the match, with fear involved due to a fall by his opponent that was reminiscent of the one suffered at Roland Garros 2021 against Nadal, which kept him away from the courts for more than six months.

Fortunately, everything turned out to be little.. Zverev recovered, saved with a new direct serve, for a total of 16, Alcaraz's attempt to equalize at five, and closed the match in a consistent way with what he had been doing: with another serve that his opponent could barely replicate.