Alexander Zverev is the third player qualified for the semifinals of the ATP Finals, after they obtained the mathematical pass as first in the group Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic. The Serbian will precisely be the rival of the German, who defeated Hubert Hurkacz in two sets (6-2 and 6-4 in 62 minutes) and left the Italian idol Jannik Sinner without qualification options, who will play an inconsequential match against Medvedev on the turn. It is the first time since 1994 (Agassi, Becker and Sampras) that three Masters champions have reached the penultimate round.
“I’ve played against Novak in all the big hard court tournaments this year,” Sascha said. “We have a habit of facing each other in the later rounds, too. I think it will be entertaining”, he added. That’s right. This year the two have met in the group stage of the ATP Cup, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, in the semifinals of the Tokyo Games and in the semifinals of the US Open, with only one victory for the German, in the Olympic event. before becoming champion.
Hurkacz was suffering from physical discomfort and in Turin there was even talk of a possible retirement, in which case the Russian Aslan Karatsev (who has been training in the city since Wednesday) would have been his substitute and an unprecedented event would have occurred in the tournament, that three reserves would have had to play in the same year with the tournament already started . It should be remembered that Sinner made up for the loss of his compatriot Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday and that on Wednesday Cameron Norrie acted in place of Stefanos Tsitsipas, also injured.
Security at your service
This was the second time that Zverev and Hurkacz met, the previous one was at the 2019 Mutua Madrid Open and the Hamburger also won, who will play in the Masters semifinals for the third time. In this Thursday’s duel He did not give his rival any option with the serve, so he did not need to defend a single break point. Zverev has a negative head-to-head against Djokovic: 3-7 overall and 1-2 in the Finals, although in 2018 he beat him in the title match.
Results, classifications and calendar.