Carlos Alcaraz overcame illness to beat Andrey Rublev in impressive fashion and revive his ATP Finals hopes with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) in Turin.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has been suffering with respiratory issues during the week which contributed to an opening round-robin defeat to Casper Ruud on Monday.
But the third seed, bidding to win the season-ending Finals for the first time, looked far sharper against Rublev, condemning his opponent to a second defeat in as many matches as he triumphed in straight sets.
After sharing the opening six games, Alcaraz crucially broke Rublev’s serve with a scorching forehand winner and proceeded to reel off five successive games to seize control of the match.
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.
Both players served well to take the match into a high-octane tie-break in which Alcaraz had to fend off two set points before sealing victory with his second match point.
Rublev has now lost six successive matches in straight sets at the ATP Finals since reaching the semi-finals in 2022.
Alcaraz is still likely to need to beat world No 2 Zverev in his last group match on Friday in order to qualify for the final four. Zverev faces Ruud later on Wednesday, with a win for Ruud ensuring Rublev’s elimination.
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