TURIN: Carlos Alcaraz opened his account at the ATP Finals on Wednesday with an entertaining 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) win over Andrey Rublev which boosted his hopes of reaching the semi-finals. World number three Alcaraz comfortably defeated Rublev to lift himself off the bottom of the John Newcombe Group and looked in much better form despite struggling with fatigue and illness in the lead-up to the match.

There had been some doubt as to whether Alcaraz would continue in Turin after quickly ending his training session on Tuesday, with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero saying that he had trouble breathing. But the Spaniard, winner at Wimbledon and Roland Garros this season, cruised to the first set in 38 minutes, breaking Rublev in game seven and quickly winning the next two to go one set ahead. And although he had a harder time of it in the second set Alcaraz delighted fans in Turin with a series of spectacular shots which suggested he might be approaching his best form.

Rublev meanwhile drops to last place after losing his sixth straight Finals match, although he put up a battle and had two set points. Alcaraz winning in straight sets means that Casper Ruud will reach the semi-finals if he beats two-time Finals champion Alexander Zverev in the day’s late match. On Thursday Jannik Sinner will secure passage to the last four if he claims a single set against Daniil Medvedev, and will top the Ilie Nastase Group with a third straight win. — AFP