Alcaraz win sets up semi-final against Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev to top his ATP Finals group and set up a semi-final meeting with Novak Djokovic.
Wimbledon champion Alcaraz won 6-4 6-4 against the Russian, who had already qualified for the last four of the season-ending event in Turin.
“Obviously Novak is Novak, he’s the best player in the world right now,” said the Spaniard on facing Djokovic.
Medvedev, an ATP Finals champion in 2020, will face Green Group winner and Italian home favourite Jannik Sinner.
World number one Djokovic, who was beaten by Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, secured his semi-final spot on Thursday thanks to Sinner’s win over Holger Rune.
“It’s one of the most difficult challenges that I’m going to face, facing Novak in this tournament that he has won six times,” Alcaraz told Amazon Prime Video.
“I’m going to put my best tennis [out there] and I’m going to enjoy it. I’m excited.”
Having lost his opening match to Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz looked back to his best with an assured success over third seed Medvedev.
The 20-year-old broke to love at 3-3 in the first set, then got the crucial break at 4-4 in the second before serving out for a straightforward victory.
The ATP Finals features eight of the year’s best men’s players split into two groups of four, with the top two in each qualifying for the semi-finals.
Zverev and Andrey Rublev play each other in the final group game of the tournament, but neither are able to progress out of the Red Group.