Two-time champion Alexander Zverev has claimed his first win of the season over Carlos Alcaraz despite jarring his left leg midway through the third set of their match at the ATP Finals.
The world No.8 rallied back from a set down to prevail 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, over the two-time Grand Slam winner who is making his debut in the competition this year. During what was a scrappy encounter for both players, Zverev hit 33 winners past Alzaraz and capitalized on the Spaniard’s unforced error count of 28. Besides the patchy play in Turin, Zverev also suffered an injury scare late in the match but managed to regroup and seal victory.
“I think my serve helped me a lot,” Zverev said during his on-court interview.
“Saving a break point in the first game of the second set helped me. You don’t want to go down a set and a break to the number two player in the world.’
“I’m happy with the turnaround. It’s always nice to beat the best players in the world and he’s definitely one of them. It’s special to win on this court again.”
Alcaraz, who hadn’t drop a set against Zverev in their two previous meetings earlier this year, was put through his paces throughout a topsy-turvy 65-minute opening set. The world No.2 found himself a break down just three games into the match before eventually battling back to draw level at 3-3. Then in the following game, he saved a trio of break points to move ahead. Despite those mini-victories, Alcaraz was still unable to tame Zverev who fended off three set points when down down 5-6 to force a tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, it was a case of fine margins with one point proving decisive to the outcome. An Alcaraz backhand return forced his opponent to make an unforced error which granted him a mini break to move ahead 4-2. This time, he was able to capitalize on the lead as he closed out the opening set after another Zverev mistake.
Alcaraz appeared to be gaining momentum at the start of the second frame when he worked his way to another break point opportunity but a lull in form paved the way for Zverev to begin his comeback. He claimed a three-game winning streak en route to a 5-2 lead before taking proceedings into a decider with a love service game.
With all to play for, Zverev sustained an injury scare after breaking for a 3-2 lead in the third set. Chasing after a shot, he jarred his left ankle which resulted in him falling and letting out a scream. Prompting flashbacks to his French Open clash with Nadal where he injured his right ankle and subsequently was sidelined from action for months. Despite the scare, he held his nerve to seal the victory after two-and-a-half hours of play.
“I didn’t twist my ankle. I kind of slipped and pinched my Achilles a little bit,” Zverev replied when asked about the fall. “It was a little bit of a nervy pain for a while but I don’t think any damage has been done.”
“We will see when it settles down but it’s nothing compared to what happened in Paris.” He added.
It is the first time in Zverev’s career that he has won a match at the ATP Finals after losing the opening set. He will play Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev later in the week.
