Andrey Rublev bloodies knee with racket in ATP Finals loss - ESPN

TURIN, Italy — Andrey Rublev grew so frustrated during a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals on Wednesday that he repeatedly hit himself with his racket — so hard that he bloodied his left knee.

Rublev had already slammed his racket to the ground during the opening game of the second set. Then when the Russian missed a shot to hand Alcaraz a break, he started beating himself as he walked to his chair and then used a towel to wipe the blood off.

Blood continued to trickle down Rublev's leg as he played on, and he eventually called a trainer for treatment.

«It's OK,» Rublev said of his knee. «I get disappointed and couldn't manage.»

The second-ranked Alcaraz, a 20-year-old Spaniard who is already a two-time Grand Slam champion, ended an uncharacteristic three-match losing streak following defeats to Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai, Roman Safiullin in Paris and Alexander Zverev in his debut match in Turin.

«I played such a great level,» Alcaraz said.

While Rublev was virtually eliminated after losing both of his opening matches, Alcaraz boosted his chances of advancing from the round robin stage at the season-ending event for the year's top eight players.

Alcaraz will next face Daniil Medvedev, who secured his spot in the semifinals with a 7-6 (7), 6-4 win over Zverev.

«The key against Medvedev is to play a perfect match — tactically,» Alcaraz said.

Jannik Sinner leads the green group with two wins following his victory over Novak Djokovic on Tuesday.

The top two finishers in each four-man group advance to the semifinals.

In a first career meeting, it was a tight first set until Alcaraz broke for a 6-5 lead. Then Rublev was left fuming when the opening point of the next game had to be replayed after his shot was