Alexander Zverev brought his top level to his last round-robin match at the 2024 ATP Finals, beating Carlos Alcaraz and eliminating him from the competition.
Coming into this match, both of these players were in a completely different situation. While Zverev could afford to lose and still advance, that wasn’t the case for his opponent.
After Alcaraz’s loss to Casper Ruud, the 21-year-old needed to win at least one set in this match to stay in play for a semi-final spot, at least theoretically, as the outcome of the last round-robin match between Ruud and Andrey Rublev will decide the final standings.
Early on in the opening set of this match, it didn’t seem like the Spaniard was working efficiently towards that goal. In the second game, he faced two break points but saved both.
A couple of games later, he faced three consecutive break points, and despite saving all, he had to face the fourth one and the sixth of the set. Yet, he saved it again, keeping the set close.
Alcaraz, on the other hand, couldn’t trouble his opponent enough to have break points in the first set of this match. Zverev served really well, and he continued applying pressure even on the return.
In the twelfth game of the set, with a tie-break around the corner, the German player worked his way to his seventh break point of the set, but this time, also a set point.
Alcaraz saved it again, and a tie-break had to decide the first set. Zverev certainly felt like he missed multiple chances to win the first set, but he was the better player in the tie-break.
The two-time ATP Finals champion led already 5-2 with two mini-breaks, but he lost both in his next service stint. Still, Zverev managed to close out the tie-break, winning it 7-5 to secure his spot in the semi-finals of the 2024 ATP Finals, as winning one set was enough for him to do that.
Alcaraz was visibly upset by losing the first-set tie-break, and he could even be heard talking loudly to himself and his racket felt the first-set loss as well.
The World No. 2 player could play much more freely in the second set, while Alcaraz had to win the remaining two sets to stay in the competition, and even then, his semi-final spot wouldn’t be sure.
That showed in the opening game of the set, as Zverev was able to break, using his ninth break point of the match. After that, the German routinely held his serve to lead already 3-1, but a couple of games later, he faced first issues on his serve.
Alcaraz found a way to his first two break points of the match, but unfortunately for him, he couldn’t convert either, meaning that Zverev kept his one-break advantage.
The German player eventually got to serving for the set, when Alcaraz tried everything possible. He pulled off some sensational passing shots to lead 30-15 on his opponent’s serve, but even that wasn’t enough.
Alcaraz was flying around the court, but Zverev’s level was just a bit higher, and he was able to win the match 7-6(5), 6-4, completing the perfect sweep for the round-robin stage while also eliminating his opponent from the competition.
Zverev will now surely end the year as the World No. 2, while Alcaraz will be the World No. 3 player in the year-end ranking.
