Alexander Zverev got his revenge against Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals and told his rival: « You win too much. »
The German star sealed his place as the group winner and reached the semi-final as he beat the four-time Major winner 7-6(5) 6-4.
Afterwards, Zverev claimed Alcaraz had beaten him in too many important matches this year as they shared a warm embrace at the net.
Zverev came into the match with a tied 5-5 head-to-head against Alcaraz. But the 27-year-old had only won one of their three meetings this year.
He got the better of Alcaraz in their Australian Open quarter-final but the Spaniard bounced back to beat Zverev in Indian Wells before winning their biggest match yet – the French Open final. There, Alcaraz came from two-sets-to-one down to deny Zverev a maiden Grand Slam title.
The world No. 2 came into their ATP Finals group stage contest with a 2-0 record for the week while Alcaraz had gone 1-1 in his round-robin matches and was battling an illness. Zverev only needed to win one set to guarantee his place in the semis but he went a step further and beat his rival in straight sets.
Both men were all smiles as they met at the net and hugged. « That’s all? » Alcaraz joked, seeming to poke fun at Zverev’s high level.
The German took it well and replied: « I f***ing love you man, you know that? » After joking around, Alcaraz praised his opponent and added: « Great job. »
It was Zverev’s turn to jibe his opponent. « You won too much this year, you won too much against me this year! » he exclaimed after getting one back.
Alcaraz quipped back: « I didn’t last year! »
Zverev explained just how important it was to beat Alcaraz in his post-match interview, reiteraring how he lost their most important battles.
« He beat me too many times this year in important matches so I’m happy that I got this one, » the two-time former champion said.
« But you know, obviously I feel like we have a pretty good rivalry with a great friendship as well so it’s always nice to play against him except when he beats me, that’s not nice. But just sharing the court with him, he’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to the next matches with him as well. »
Zverev will now face Taylor Fritz in Saturday’s semi-final. Meanwhile, Alcaraz’s fate will lie in the hands of another one of his rivals.
Andrey Rublev faces Casper Ruud in the last round-robin tie of the week. If Rublev wins in straight sets, Alcaraz still has a chance of reaching the semi-final.
It would come down to percentage of games won by Alcaraz and Ruud to determine who makes the last four. But if Ruud wins just one set, he will advance and knock Alcaraz out.
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