Alexander Zverev ended his 2023 season with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Andrey Rublev at the Nitto ATP Finals.
The German cruised past Rublev in straight sets after initially going a break down in the opening set.
Despite the win Zverev is out of the tournament after Carlos Alcaraz’s win earlier on the day while Andrey Rublev ends the tournament having lost all three Round Robin matches.
It was Rublev who started the match with more confidence and aggression as he broke an out-of-sorts Zverev and took a 2-0 lead.
However the German would soon work his way back into the contest by remaining patient from the baseline, therefore forcing errors from an erratic Rublev as the former champion broke back in the next game.
Both players would remain proactive on return using a mixture of depth and power to force errors from the opponent.
Rublev was the more consistently aggressive but it was Zverev who would be more patient in longer rallies allowing his defensive variety to do all the work.
In the end Rublev once again showed that his erratic game would falter under pressure as he was unable to produce consistent quality on the forehand when it really mattered.
The German took advantage to break in the ninth game and another forehand unforced error from Rublev saw Zverev close out the opening set in a tight 62 minutes.
In the second set Rublev played with much more margin on the forehand side as he tried to dictate play from the baseline after a frustrating opening set.
At the beginning, Rublev did that with ease but in the seventh game struggled to adapt to Zverev’s efficiency from the baseline.
The German played an inspired return game as he hit some stunning forehand winners as he sealed the crucial break to take a 4-3 lead.
An immensely frustrating tournament for Rublev was complete as Zverev completed victory in straight sets.
Rublev ends his Nitto ATP Finals campaign having lost all three matches while Zverev ends his 2023 season on a winning note.
