ATP Finals: Zverev moves past Ruud to maintain red-hot Turin run

Alexander Zverev maintained his red-hot late-season form in impressive fashion at this season’s Nitto ATP Finals in Italy on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old German in the night session, downed Casper Ruud 7-6(3), 6-3 in Turin to notch his second victory of the week at the prestigious season finale event.

Zverev ground down the Norwegian with a rock-solid 86-minute display at Inalpi Arena, although Ruud appeared full of confidence after upsetting Carlos Alcaraz in his opening match.

“A good match. I thought both of us played quite good tennis,” said Zverev, who outhit Ruud by 28 winners to 13. “I’m happy with the win. Maybe it was even better than my first match, even though the first match was quite good as well. I’m looking forward to Carlos now on Friday and hopefully more matches at the weekend.”

With his Tour-leading 68th victory of 2024, Zverev improved to 2-0 in John Newcombe Group.

Zverev arrived in Turin with the most Nitto ATP Finals experience of the eight singles players. He is competing at the event for the seventh time, and he has racked up a 16-9 win/loss record overall.

“It means I’m old!,” joked Zverev when asked about his long history with the prestigious season finale. “But I still don’t feel old. I hope I have another solid 10 years ahead of me, but I think it’s a young group of guys. There has been kind of a shift in tennis this year and I think it’s a good thing. They’re exciting new players and everybody loves watching them.”

The Rome and Paris champion will take on Alcaraz in his final group match on Friday, when he will bid to secure his semi-final spot. Zverev is chasing his third Nitto ATP Finals title, having previously lifted the trophy in London in 2018 and Turin in 2021