Zverev advances to the semifinals in style | Nitto ATP Finals

Alexander Zverev is going through his sweetest moment of the season and with eight consecutive victories—three of them at the Nitto ATP Finals—he booked his ticket this Friday for the semifinals in Turin.

The No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 57 minutes to advance to the top four of the prestigious season-ending tournament as leader of Group John Newcombe (3 -0).

Zverev appeared at the Inalpi Arena as the recent champion of the Rolex Paris Masters, his second title of the season (he also won in Rome) and seventh ATP Masters 1000 of his career. And in front of the Spaniard he exhibited his enormous confidence.

However, the second seed is the player who has won the most games in 2024, with a total of 69, ahead of Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz himself.

More wins in 2024
Alexander Zverev: 69

Jannik Sinner: 68

Carlos Alcaraz: 53

Taylor Fritz: 51

Casper Ruud: 50

“He has beaten me many times this year in important matches, so I am happy to get it,” Zverev noted of his victory. “Obviously, I think we have a pretty good rivalry with a great friendship as well, so it’s always nice to play against him…just share the court with him. He’s a great kid and I’m looking forward to more games with him too.”

Zverev managed to tip the balance on his side in the Lexus ATP Head2Head against Alcaraz, who had been able to win his two most recent duels at the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and at Roland Garros (in both the Spaniard won the title) . This time, the German left the face-to-face at 6-5 in his favor.

The champion of the Nitto ATP Finals in 2018 and 2021 has made his serve his best weapon. Without giving up a break option, he protected his serve with 5 aces and 81% of points won with firsts. In addition, the rest forced Alcaraz to defend against 7 break options against him. But in the tie-break, Zverev ruled for his side, taking advantage of a 5-2 gap that the Murcian could not recover (7-5).

The blow for the Spaniard was very hard, as he saw a good part of his chances of being in the semifinals disappear after a great effort. And he paid for it in the second set, delivering the first break of the match in the opening game. In white he confirmed the distance to be 2-0.

Although Alcaraz had two break opportunities at 2-3, 15/40, Zverev emerged from his only dangerous service situation in the entire match with four consecutive points. The Spaniard’s attempts were extinguished by a rival who has reached this time of year in a sublime state.

As the leader of his group, Zverev already knows that this Saturday he will face the second placed in Group Ilie Nastase, the American Taylor Fritz.

“They have been three fantastic matches,” added Zverev about his performance in Turin. “I’m happy to be 3-0 in the group, of course, but I think now the semi-finals are going to be very difficult. Taylor defeated me the last few times in the Grand Slams, so I’m looking forward to that match.”

Did you know that…?

This Friday at the Nitto ATP Finals, Alexander Zverev became the first player to achieve 69 wins or more in a single season since Andy Murray left a record of 78 match wins in 2016.