Carlos Alcaraz made a massive step toward the year-end no. 1 honor following his second match at the ATP Finals in Turin. World no. 1 took down Taylor Fritz 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 48 minutes.
Thus, he added 200 ATP points to his tally and moved closer to wrapping up the season ahead of his greatest rival, Jannik Sinner. However, while thinking about this race at the start of the duel, Carlos had to focus on the match.
The Spaniard had to dig deep to oust the American, losing the opener and overcoming a scary moment in the second set before seizing control and bringing the victory home.
The six-time Major winner left calculations behind and threw everything on beating his rival and maintaining a perfect record in Turin. The 22-year-old saved eight of nine break points, mainly in the opener.
He seized three of 11 break points and emerged at the top for his 15th top-10 victory of the season. Despite struggling to feel the ball early on, Alcaraz landed 47 winners and 37 unforced errors.
He outplayed Taylor at the net, while the American played better from the baseline and hit more service winners. They traded early break and stayed neck and neck in the remaining games.
Fritz served well and provided two mini-breaks for 7-2. Carlos had to dig deep at 2-2 in the second set. He saved two break points with winners and held after 15 minutes for a boost of confidence.
The Spaniard grabbed a break at 15 at 6-5 after passing his rival, introducing a decider after two hours and ten minutes. Alcaraz provided a break in the sixth game of the final set and generated three match points at 5-2.
Taylor denied them and held to prolong the action. However, Carlos held at love at 5-3 to move over the top and get closer to one of his goals at the ATP Finals.
"Honestly, I'm trying not to think about the year-end no. 1 spot, but it's difficult. I thought a little bit about it when we started, but I had to deal with other things later. I focused on how to turn the match around because there were difficult moments.
I did not feel as well as I wanted or hit like I did in the first match against Alex. Thus, I concentrated on finding a way to win, which I did. It was an important step en route to qualifying for the semi-final," Carlos Alcaraz said.
