TURIN: Carlos Alcaraz made a solid start to the ATP Finals on Sunday with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 win over Alex de Minaur, while former champion Alexander Zverev got underway with a straight-sets win over Ben Shelton.
It was the first time that the Spaniard had won his opening match at the finals. He lost to Zverev and Casper Ruud in the last two years.
“This tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on tour,” world No. 2 Alcaraz said.
“I’ve been struggling in the past few years to come to the end of the year with motivation. This year is a little bit different, which I’m proud about (as) I’m doing the right things to give myself a shot to try and win this tournament.”
It was not all plain sailing in Turin. Leading 4-1 and pressing for 5-1 in the first set, Alcaraz suffered a sudden dip, struggling with his first serves and allowing seventh seed De Minaur to come back to level the score.
Trailing 3-1 and then 5-3 in the tiebreak, Alcaraz rediscovered his touch to level and then break De Minaur to win the first set.
In spite of dropping his service early, the second set was more straightforward as Alcaraz raced away to claim his fifth victory in as many meetings with the Australian.
“It was a really difficult match,” said Alcaraz.
“On this surface, Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he’s super fast and really difficult on return.
“I’m just really happy to get through this really difficult challenge, and happy with how I’m playing.”
Alcaraz and De Minaur are in the Jimmy Connors Group which also features American sixth seed Taylor Fritz and Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, a late replacement for the injured Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Later on Sunday, third seed Zverev downed Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) in the
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