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Germany's Alexander Zverev made a strong start to his ATP Finals campaign, defeating America's Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(6) in Turin on Sunday.
Zverev made his return to competition at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, overcoming a swollen ankle injury that had plagued him in his semi-final loss to Jannik Sinner at the Rolex Paris Masters, as per the ATP website. "He's an unbelievably aggressive player. Probably one of the most aggressive in the world. In the tie-break, he started off amazing. Yes, I missed maybe one or two first serves, and the passing shot he hit (at 5/4) was ridiculous. I felt like I had to control the things that I could control, and I was doing them well," Zverev said. "At the end of the day, when the point is on his serve, it is always in his control. When I get the return back and in the rally, then I can do something. I did that well at the end of the tie-break and I'm super happy with that win," he added. Zverev, seeded third, dominated Shelton in the match, winning without facing a break point. The 28-year-old aims to become the eighth man to claim three titles at the season finale, having previously won in 2018 and 2021. With his victory at Inalpi Arena, Zverev improved to 5-0 in his ATP Head2Head series with Shelton. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his ATP Finals campaign in style with a much-awaited opening victory. The top seed defeated Australia's Alex de Minaur 7-6(5), 6-2 on Sunday, marking a confident start to his hunt for a maiden title at the prestigious season finale. "This tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on Tour, without a doubt," Alcaraz said, as quoted from ATP's official website. "We're playing against the best players in the world, which shows how difficult and important it is. 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," he noted. (ANI)
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