Zvrerev Alcaraz Ruud Rublev Turin 2024 Day 6 Preview | Nitto ATP Finals

The round-robin stage of the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals concludes on Friday, with everyone still to play for in the John Newcombe Group.

Alexander Zverev tops the table with a 2-0 record, but even his place in the semi-finals is not guaranteed ahead of a Day 6 showdown with Carlos Alcaraz. After that day-session clash, evening opponents Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev will know exactly where they stand in their quest for the knockout rounds.

In doubles action, Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz bid to complete a perfect campaign in the Bob Bryan Group when they take on sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden. Top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic face Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in a de facto quarter-final, with the winner poised to advance to the semi-finals alongside group winners Krawietz/Puetz. Arevalo and Pavic won this year’s ATP Doubles no. 1 presented by PIF after Thursday’s results in Turin.

(2) Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. (3) Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
While Zverev tops the group with a pair of straight-set wins against Rublev and Ruud, he needs to win at least one set against Alcaraz to confirm his place in the semi-finals – although he could still advance even with a straight-sets defeat.

The German’s Nitto ATP Finals experience has shone through this week, with Zverev sharp from the very first ball in Turin. Zverev, a two-time champion at the season finale (2018, 2021), owns a 16-9 record at the event in seven appearances – the most of any competitor this year.

“That means I’m old!” the 27-year-old joked about that statistic. “But I still don’t feel old. I hope I have another 10 years ahead of me, but I think it’s a young group of guys. There’s been a kind of shift in tennis this year and I think that is a good thing. They are exciting new players and everyone loves to watch them.”

Already a four-time Grand Slam champion at the age of 21, Alcaraz is one of the young stars leading that shift. He faced a tumultuous start in his second appearance in Turin, battling through illness and dropping his opening match to Ruud in straight sets. Using a pink nose strip, he recovered enough to beat Rublev 6–3, 7–6(8) in his second match, keeping him firmly in the hunt for a semi-final spot.

“It was a very solid match. I needed it and it gives me a lot of confidence for Friday, which will be tough,” assessed the Spaniard. “My chances to qualify are still there, so we will go all out.”

Friday’s matchup will break a 5-5 tie in the Lexus ATP Head2Head between Alcaraz and Zverev. They have met three times this season on some of the game’s biggest stages, with Zverev winning in the Australian Open quarters before Alcaraz prevailed in the Indian Wells quarters and in a five-set Roland Garros final.

Both men’s success on multiple surfaces underscores their ability to attack and defend at an elite level, with both providing few gaps for opponents to exploit. When they were drawn in the same group, Alcaraz explained what makes the German so tough.

“He’s definitely one of the toughest players in the world,” he said of Zverev. “I think I return pretty well, but he has a really big serve and plays incredibly from the baseline, which makes him a really tough opponent to face. .

“I don’t like to face him because of his serves and shots,” he continued, “but I try to find the beauty of playing him.”

Neither player has won more than two consecutive matches so far in this Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Alcaraz will look to change that on Friday.

(6) Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. (8) Andrey Rublev
At 0-2 and without a set win this week, Rublev has only one path to the semi-finals. He needs to score a straight sets win against Ruud and get Zverev to defeat Alcaraz in straight sets. That would send Zverev through to the semifinals as group winner and create a three-way tie for second place, which would be broken by percentage of matches won.

Ruud sits second in the group with a 1-1 record and knows exactly what he needs to do to progress when he takes to the field on Friday night. The Norwegian will put aside his friendship with Rublev as the pair lock horns for a fierce battle at the Inalpi Arena, just as Rublev will park his friendly disposition off the court in favor of his fiery on-court persona.

“(Rublev) just rips the ball from both sides. He’s such a friendly person,” Ruud said of that dichotomy. “I looked up to him because he’s a year older than me and he got into the Top 10 and started winning big tournaments way before I did.”

Ruud has already faced plenty of power from Alcaraz and Zverev this week, but both of those players tend to pick their spots to go big. Rublev, on the other hand, will often red line at every opportunity. Although he has yet to hit his stride in Turin, there is still time for his tennis to click.

Rublev described his season as a rollercoaster, with titles in Hong Kong and Madrid – plus a final race in Montreal – among the highlights. On the back end of an eventful year, he entered his fifth Nitto ATP final feeling relaxed.

“I’m trying to do a different approach this year. At least I feel more relaxed and that’s the best,” he explained. “Out of four times I’ve played, I only went to the semi-finals once. Three times I lost in the group stage. So if I lose three or four times, it doesn’t change anything.”

With nothing to lose in his group final, expect Rublev to take the action to Ruud in a baseline battle.

Double Action
Krawietz/Puetz are confirmed as group winners and Bopanna/Ebden have been eliminated from the semi-finals, but both will play for PIF ATP Doubles Rankings points and prize money in their match on Friday.

The evening match between Arevalo/Pavic and Bolelli/Vavassori will decide the second place team in the Bob Bryan Group. With both teams owning a 1-1 match record and a 2-2 set record, the Italians enter the match in second place based on percentage of matches won. There will be no need for tie-break procedures on Friday night after what essentially amounts to a quarterfinal contest.