Qualification for ATP Finals fixed
Two defeats in Paris help Zverev a lot
November 3rd, 2023, 10:57 p.m
The wait is over: Alexander Zverev is hitting the ATP Finals in Turin. The 26-year-old, who recently found himself in trouble again in qualifying for the season finale of the world’s eight best players, is benefiting from defeats by his direct competitors.
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has qualified for the ATP finals of this year’s eight best tennis professionals in his comeback season after a serious ankle injury. After his round of 16 exit at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy, the 26-year-old benefited from the defeats of several opponents. The Pole Hubert Hurkacz and Holger Rune, trained by Boris Becker, lost their quarter-finals in Paris and can no longer overtake Hamburg in the ranking.
The top eight of this season will qualify for the ATP Finals, which start on November 12th in Turin. Zverev has already won the title twice, most recently beating Russian Daniil Medvedev in the final in 2021. Last year he missed the French Open after his injury. In addition to the current world number nine, Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Carlos Alcaraz (Spain), Medvedev, Jannik Sinner (Italy), Andrej Rublyov (Russia) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) are also taking part in the ATP finals.
Zverev, who won the finals in 2018 and 2021, registered for the Sofia Open at short notice after his round of 16 exit in Paris. If his pursuers had further victories, he might have needed more points. That is no longer the case. First, Hurkacz lost against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 1:6, 6:4, 4:6. Rune then lost 5:7, 7:6 (7:3), 4:6 against world number one Novak Djokovic from Serbia. Zverev lost 6:7, 4:6 against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Paris, but said to the Greek at the net after the game: “See you in Turin.”