TURIN, Italy (Reuters) – Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz made light of feeling under the weather as he dispatched Russia’s Andrey Rublev in impressive fashion to revive his ATP Finals hopes on Wednesday.
The Spanish four-times Grand Slam champion has been suffering with respiratory issues in Turin and wore pink nasal tape against Rublev but enjoyed a resounding 6-3 7-6(8) victory.
Third seed Alcaraz, bidding to win the title for the first time, looked sharper than during his opening group match which ended in a straight-sets defeat by Norway’s Casper Ruud.
After sharing the opening six games, Alcaraz broke Rublev’s serve with a scorching forehand winner and reeled off five successive games to seize control of the match.
World number eight Rublev, who also lost his opening match to Alexander Zverev, managed to stay with Alcaraz in the second set and could have earned a couple of break points at 2-2 had he not missed a routine ball after chasing a drop shot.
A high-octane conclusion to the match saw Alcaraz fend off two set points in the tiebreaker before sealing victory.
Rublev has now lost six successive matches at the ATP Finals in straight sets since reaching the semi-finals in 2022.
Ruud will face world number two Zverev later on Wednesday with both players seeking their second win.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
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