TURIN, Italy — Carlos Alcaraz got off to a good start on his quest for his first ATP Finals title and year-end No. 1 ranking with a straight-sets win over Alex de Minaur on Sunday.
Alcaraz recovered from a tumultuous first set to beat seventh-seeded de Minaur 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the opening match of the season’s final match between the top eight men’s players.
Ben Shelton saved three set points in his ATP Finals debut as two-time champion Alexander Zverev defeated the American 6-3, 7-6 (6).
Top seed Alcaraz is locked in a battle with defending champion Jannik Sinner to finish the year in first place, and the Spaniard can secure his spot by reaching the final, regardless of what his rival does.
This was the first time Alcaraz had won the opening round of the ATP Finals.
“This tournament is definitely one of the best on our tour,” Alcaraz said. “We are playing against the best players in the world and it shows how difficult and important it is.
“I’ve struggled in recent years to end the year with motivation. This year is a little different, and I’m proud of that. I’m doing the right things to give myself a chance to win this tournament.”
Alcaraz appeared to have firm control in the first set. He had already broken against de Minaur and threatened to do the same in the sixth game to take a 5-1 lead, but the Australian fought back to deuce and prevented another break point to take the game.
De Minaur then broke back to take the set to a tiebreak, building a 5-3 advantage before Alcaraz fought back.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz dominated the second set, dropping serve early but winning the rest of the match, clinching the win with a crosscourt backhand on his second match point.
Taylor Fritz is also in Jimmy Connors’ group with Alcaraz, De Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti in place of the injured Novak Djokovic.
The Bjorn Borg group includes Sinner, Zverev, Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Third-seeded Zverev took just 28 minutes to close out the first set against Shelton, but Shelton seemed to step up a gear after that and had a golden chance to tie the match in a second-set tiebreaker.
Shelton raced to a 4-0 lead and squandered three set points before firing a backhand wide to give Zverev the win after 93 minutes.
The top two from each group advance to the semifinals.