ATP Finals 2024: Carlos Alcaraz exits Turin event after errors and ...

Carlos Alcaraz has been ousted from the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, his straight-sets defeat to Alexander Zverev proving decisive with Casper Ruud's victory over Andrey Rublev later on Friday sealing the Spaniard's fate.

Alcaraz, who has been battling illness during the tournament, did not look back to full fitness as he made unexpected errors, driving him to angrily launch his racquet onto his bag at the end of the first set and chuntering towards his box as the second set slipped away.

Zverev took full advantage to maintain his 100% record so far at this year's event, and leave Alcaraz to wait for the result of the Casper Ruud v Andrey Rublev clash later on Friday. Ruud's 2-1 victory ensured Alcaraz would be exiting the Turin event.

Speaking afterwards, Zverev said: “He [Alcaraz] beat me too many times this year in important matches, so I’m happy that I got this one.

“Obviously I feel like we have a pretty good rivalry with a great friendship as well, so it’s always nice to play against him… Just sharing the court with him. He’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to the next matches with him as well.

He added: “It’s been three fantastic matches. I’m happy with being 3-0 in the group for sure, but I think now the semi-final is going to be very difficult. He [last-four opponent Taylor Fritz] beat me the past few times in the slams, so I’m looking forward to that match.”

The opening set went stroke-for-stroke with both players having their chances, but ultimately a tie-break was a fair way to settle it.

Zverev charged ahead into a 5-2 lead, but back came Alcaraz as a lost cause suddenly looked once again possible, thanks in part to a stunning lob.

However, at set point and after a fine exchange, Alcaraz pushed a volley wide when it appeared easier to find the gaping court, and Zverev fervently celebrated his capture of the opener.

Alcaraz was a picture of frustration at the changeover, but for Zverev it was opposing emotions, and he made the most of his momentum to take an early break in the second.

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With the newly-retired Dominic Thiem watching on courtside, Alcaraz kept things on serve as the scoreline moved to 3-2, and then forced two break back points as Zverev faltered.

But, in a sequence of events so rarely seen, Alcaraz made a slew of errors off the ground as Zverev grabbed four points in a row and escaped from the game.

The German then stood on the brink at 5-4 ahead, and served it out to progress to the last four.

Zverev was full of praise for Alcaraz after the match, calling him "one of the best players in the world" after facing a catalogue of the Spaniard's "ridiculous" shots in the thrilling first-set tie-break.

"I told him, he beat me too much this year, so I had to win once at least. Win an important one," Zverev said in his post-match press conference.

"I thought there were some ridiculous points at the end of the tie-break. This is the thing about Carlos, he might not be playing at his best - even though I thought he played phenomenally today - but I’m just saying, generally when he’s not playing at his best, all of a sudden, the most important moments, he turns into a different person.

"All of a sudden, you can’t hit a winner against him, he hits every single passing shot on the line, you could put a coin there and he would hit it. That’s what makes him one of the best players in the world and he did that in the tiebreak as well.

"He hit two ridiculous passing shots, one forehand and one backhand lob which were unbelievable. The backhand lob was insane. To be fair, if I don’t hit probably one of the most ridiculous half-volleys I’ve ever hit at 6-5 in the tiebreak, it goes back to six-all and who knows who wins that?

"He turns into a different person, he really plays his best at the most important moments."