JUSTIFYING his world number two status, Alexander Zverev overcame Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on the final round-robin day of the John Newcombe Group at the ATP Finals to secure a semis spot. The German fended off the world number three, 7-6 6-4.

The win ensured Zverev will end the year at a career-high world number two, a spot he gained, lost and then regained in the past few months. By eliminating Alcaraz, Zverev reversed the result from their five-set epic at Roland Garros, defeating his nemesis in an hour and 57 minutes.

“He beat me too many times this year in important matches, so I’m happy that I got this one,” Zverev said post-match. “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… Just sharing the court with him. “He’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to the next matches with him as well.”

Much like Jannik Sinner in the other group, Zverev went through undefeated from his three matches and will now take on American Taylor Fritz for a spot in the final. The German is gunning for his third ATP Finals trophy, fittingly having won every three years with his past two titles in 2018 and 2021 meaning that time has come around again.

“It’s been three fantastic matches,” Zverev said. “I’m happy with being 3-0 in the group for sure, but I think now the semi-final is going to be very difficult. [Taylor] beat me the past few times at the Slams, so I’m looking forward to that match.”

As Zverev edged ahead 6-5 in his head-to-head with Alcaraz, he did so with nine aces and winning 73 and 67 per cent of his first and second serve points off a 79 per cent clip. By comparison, Alcaraz was solid but not nearly as strong off his second serve, winning just 52 per cent of his points.

In the other match, Norwegian Casper Ruud defied the odds heading into the tournament to secure a semi-finals spot, defeating eighth seed Andrey Rublev and booking a date with Sinner in the knockout stage. Ruud lost to Zverev on day four, but had stunned Alcaraz on day two to secure his progression through to the next stage.

Overnight, he capped off a wonderful tournament with a hard-fought three-set victory over the Russian world number nine, 6-4 5-7 6-2 to end his opponent’s year.

“Tennis is interesting sometimes. I don’t know what I am doing better this week than the past few weeks but the only thing is serving, I am serving really well,” Ruud said post-match. “It is tough to play the best players in the world but nice because you feel you are an underdog and can play free and you know if you don’t bring your A plus level you will likely lose.

“I knew coming into this match that a set was enough to qualify, so I was a bit nervous at the start. So when I got that first set I could breath out a little. I still focused on the match and finished with a good third set.”