Alexander Zverev moved up from eighth to seventh in the 2023 race to the Nitto ATP Finals after he won the Chengdu Open on Tuesday. Zverev captured the title in Chengdu with a 7-6(2), 7-6(5) victory over Roman Safiullin.
Safiullin, whose best season on tour is highlighted by a quarterfinal run at Wimbledon, was within two points of his first ATP title at 5-5 in the second-set tiebreaker. However, Zverev reeled off four points in a row to take the match in straight sets.
“He’s playing the best tennis of his life for sure,” the 10th-ranked German said of Safiullin. “The way he was winning this week, I think he beat a lot of great players quite easily, so I knew that he was playing well. Obviously I’m happy to be able to come back and to win this title.”
Race to Turin standings
Zverev passed Holger Rune for the No. 7 spot in the race to Turin. Here is the top 10 following the results in Chengdu and Zhuhai heading into this week’s China Open:
1. Novak Djokovic – 8945 points
2. Carlos Alcaraz – 8175 points
3. Daniil Medvedev – 6590 points
4. Jannik Sinner – 4365 points
5. Andrey Rublev – 3640 points
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas – 3570 points
7. Alexander Zverev – 3270 points
8. Holger Rune – 3055 points
9. Taylor Fritz – 3010 points
10. Casper Ruud – 2625 points
Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Medvedev have already clinched spots in the year-end championship
Khachanov triumphs in Zhuhai
Karen Khachanov, who played only one match in between Roland Garros and Zhuhai because of a back injury, got his comeback going by winning the Zhuhai Championships. Khachanov picked up his first title since 2018 (Paris Masters) with a 7-6(2), 6-1 defeat of Yoshihito Nishioka.
looks like Fritz and Rune for the last spot