Alcaraz targets maiden ATP Finals title after strong indoor run

Turin: Alexander Zverev won more of the big titles this year and holds the No. 1 ranking. Carlos Alcaraz, though, heads into the ATP Finals as the player to beat.

That’s because Alcaraz, who missed four-and-a-half months in the middle of the year due to a right wrist injury, has displayed the best form lately.

While Zverev arrives on a two-match losing streak, Alcaraz comes to Turin on a 10-match winning run after claiming titles in Vienna and Paris. He is also eager to lift the ATP Finals trophy for the first time after losing to Jannik Sinner in last year’s final.

“This is a tournament that I really want to win one day,” Alcaraz said after beating Ben Shelton in the Paris Masters final last weekend.

“I’m going to go this year with a lot of confidence, with a lot of information in my bag to do the things that I really wanted to improve and be better in that tournament, and I’m going to go for it.”

The Finals, the season-ending event for the year’s top eight men’s players, begins on Sunday in Turin.

Sinner, the two-time defending champion, is sitting out after ending his season early due to a right knee injury.

Alcaraz improves his indoor game

It wasn’t all that long ago that Alcaraz struggled indoors.

“I have no experience playing on indoor courts,” Alcaraz said two years ago at the Finals as he failed to advance. “I’ll be a really good player on indoor courts, I’m sure about it. But I think it’s about time, about getting experience. … A lot of players are better than me on indoor courts.”

Not anymore.

Alcaraz has dropped only one set during his 10-match winning streak indoors.

“Mentally tired athletes often run low on patience,” Tennis Channel analyst and former world No. 1 Jim Courier said in an email to The Associated Press. “Carlos is generally making better choices with his shot selection than a few years ago and his mental freshness, given the time away from tour due to injury this year, is also a factor.”

Zverev annoyed by criticism of No. 1 ranking

Zverev has appeared mentally tired during his recent losses to Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti in Vienna and Paris, respectively.

And not just because it’s the end of the season.

“I feel like I’m the only world No. 1 in tennis history that has to explain why it’s OK for me to be world No. 1, which I find quite difficult, because I think I deserve to be where I am,” Zverev said after losing to Musetti in his opening match in Paris.

While Zverev claimed his first two Grand Slam titles this year and ascended to the No. 1 ranking for the first time, he has faced continuous questions about earning the ranking after injuries to Alcaraz and Sinner.

Zverev added that the criticism “is annoying, to be honest.”

A third career title for Zverev at the Finals, especially with a victory over Alcaraz, would go a long way towards quieting the questions.

Shelton beat Alcaraz in match of the year

Another player displaying top-level tennis towards the end of the season is Shelton, who reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

The American beat Alcaraz in what was likely the match of the year during his run in New York, winning a fifth-set super tiebreaker to conclude a quarterfinal that ended at 3.33 am.

“It’s all about the little details. The difference in our match in the US Open was the little details, and same (in Paris),” Shelton said after losing to Alcaraz in two close sets last weekend. “Especially on a super-fast surface like this, the margins are going to be small.”

One not-so-minor detail for Shelton is that he recently added Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s former coach, to his staff.

“Super hungry,” Shelton said, “and excited going into Turin.”

Draw (seedings in parentheses):

John McEnroe Group: Alexander Zverev (1), Ben Shelton (3), Arthur Fils (6), Rafael Jodar (8).

Ivan Lendl Group: Carlos Alcaraz (2), Daniil Medvedev (4), Flavio Cobolli (5), Frances Tiafoe (7).