breaking news
Alexander Zverev started the ATP Finals with a convincing victory. The world number three defeated the American Ben Shelton in two sets 6:3 and 7:6 (8:6) on Sunday evening.
Previously, Spain’s tennis star Carlos Alcaraz had not exposed himself in Turin. The 22-year-old retained the upper hand against the Australian Alex de Minaur after slight teething problems with 7:6 (7:5), 6:2 and thus lived up to his role as clear favorite.
Zverev quickly takes advantage of the first break chance
Zverev took advantage of his first break chance against the strong-serving left-hander to make it 3-2. Shelton didn’t put a stop ball short enough behind the net and, despite his size, he was very quick and ran the ball past his opponent.
The German No. 1 exuded an enormous amount of confidence and confidence in victory right from the start. There was no sign of an injured foot at all. Accordingly, Zverev slammed the American’s next two service games and led 5:3 after less than half an hour of play.
The 23-year-old Zverev seemed to be annoyed by his opponent’s strength: his condition showed not in gestures, but in a series of mistakes. After another stop and a chance converted against Shelton’s direction, Zverev soon had set point: Shelton wanted to play briefly again, but put the ball into the net to make it 3:6.
More unimpressed Shelton
The world number six from the USA was unimpressed despite the significant loss of the set: with great precision he completed his first service in the second round with an ace.
However: Shelton repeatedly sprinkled unforced errors into his game – something that was almost impossible to see from Zverev on this Sunday evening. Shelton had to fend off a break point when the score was 1:2 in the second set. He first achieved this brilliantly in a rally worth seeing from both players – Shelton pushed himself with a loud shout of “Come on!” himself. In the service game that lasted over nine minutes, Zverev ended up missing another break with a shot that was too long.
Contested second set
Round No. 2 offered a significantly different picture: Zverev was still acting stable, but his opponent now had significantly more success. Always in close contact with his father and coach, Shelton now hit significantly more winning shots and the set was much more balanced. But the match seemed to be about to change from the German’s point of view: Zverev hit the edge of the net when the American tried to stop again too short, from which the ball flew in a high arc out of bounds, giving Shelton the point. There were no further break opportunities for either player.
In the tiebreak, Shelton quickly moved ahead to 3-0 – Sascha Zverev seemed to have lost the famous thread. While he often hit the ball with the racket frame and thus unintentionally chased it into the rows of spectators, his counterpart benefited time and again from net rollers that were out of reach for Zverev.
Zverev had outstandingly strong nerves in the tiebreak
Time and time again, Shelton managed to gain spectacular points, so that the audience cheered him on increasingly loudly than No. 3 in the world rankings. But Zverev fought back against the threat of losing the set, fended off three set points and closed the game with the first match point chance.