Carlos Alcaraz is in the winners’ circle at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Making his debut appearance at this tournament in 2023, Alcaraz rebounded from an opening loss to Alexander Zverev by beating Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-2 in the Red Group on Wednesday afternoon. The world No. 2 kept his semifinal hopes alive while cruising in one hour and 14 minutes.
Afterward, Alcaraz spoke about the various differences between the year-end championship and other tournaments.
“The most difficult thing is how fast [the court] is,” he commented. “Coming here after playing on hard courts that are slow, it’s really fast. It’s a little bit difficult to adjust your level. At the same time, I like to be aggressive and I like coming to the net…. Every match here could be a final of a Grand Slam; that’s the difference coming into this tournament. You have to change your mindset a little bit.”
Daniil Medvedev became the first player to officially clinch a spot in the semifinals when he defeated Alexander Zverev 7-6(7), 6-4 in Wednesday’s nightcap. The Russian came back from 4-1 down in the first-set tiebreaker and eventually broke serve at 5-4 in the second to advance.
Medvedev, Zverev, and Carlos Alcaraz can all finish with 2-1 records, but Medvedev has secured a place in the semis by virtue of his current 4-0 sets record.
Competition in the Green Group wraps up on Thursday, when Novak Djokovic faces Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner goes up against Holger Rune.
nice one, Carlos