Turin, November 12
German Alexander Zverev started off his pursuit for a third ATP Finals trophy as he kickstarted his campaign in Turin, defeating Andrey Rublev on Tuesday morning.
The second-seed defeated Rublev 6-4, 6-4 to open his account in the season-concluding tournament at Turin in the John Newcombe Group. This is also his tour-leading 67th win of 2024. Zverev is a 2018 and 2021 champion and he stood firm in face of some fine tennis played by Rublev to get his win in 72 minutes.
"I thought it was a very solid match from my end," said Zverev, according to ATP website.
"Against anyone here, you have to play your best to have a chance, you have to be solid and mentally strong. I feel like I did that today, I felt like I used my chances quite well and I am obviously happy with this win," he added.
Djokovic became the first player to beat the 'Big Three', Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the ATP Finals 2019. The 2024 season marks the first time since 2001 that none of these aforementioned legends are playing the tournament.
"I think the attention went to Carlos [Alcaraz] and Jannik [Sinner] all year long," Zverev said.
"They deserve it, they won two Grand Slams each."
"It is normal in sports, at some point everybody retires, new players come along. We have a great group of guys leading with Jannik and Carlos. I think they had a better year, even though I'm No. 2 in the world. The benchmark is those two guys," he concluded his point.
After improving his Head-to-Head record with Rublev to seven wins and three losses, Zverev will continue his trophy hunt against Casper Ruud, who had early defeated third-seed and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in an upset in the John Newcombe Group.