Alexander Zverev finished off his 2023 ATP Finals with a victory over Andrey Rublev and a 2-1 record, but it was not enough to advance.
The only way Zverev could have advanced is if Daniil Medvedev bested Carlos Alcaraz earlier today, and that didn't happen as the Spaniard proved to be too strong for the Russian. Still, a match needed to be played, and some points and prize money were up for grabs.
Good friends Rublev and Zverev contested it, and the German ultimately won it. You can't really say that both players played at the highest intensity because they didn't but they still gave a decent show with a couple of highlights.
Zverev continued to dominate on the serve, blasting 10 aces in total and winning the majority of the points on his serve. Rublev tried to exert a decent amount of pressure and for the most part, succeeded in creating a few break chances.
He would only convert one of those, though, and that simply wasn't enough, especially since he gave Zverev 7 break chances. Most of that came from Rublev failing to do anything with his second serve.
Zverev was quite aggressive on the second serve and had amazing success. He won 14 of 22 of those points and used three of the seven break points he had.
Zverev also finished with a really good stat line of 25 winners and only three unforced errors. He played well, there is just not much you can really add to that. Rublev tried to match him and, for the most part, was solid but couldn't really produce the needed level to win the match.
After making the semi-finals last year, Rublev bows out of the event with a 0-3 record, while Zverev posts a solid 2-1 record but not enough to win even though he bested Alcaraz in their match. The set differential ultimately decided the group.
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