<p>Turin: Spain's Carlos Alcaraz made light of feeling under the weather as he dispatched Russia's Andrey Rublev in impressive fashion to revive his ATP Finals hopes on Wednesday.</p><p>The Spanish four-time Grand Slam champion has been suffering with respiratory issues in Turin and wore pink nasal tape against Rublev in a resounding 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) victory.</p><p>Third seed Alcaraz, bidding to win the title for the first time, looked far sharper than during his opening group match which ended in a straight-sets defeat by Norway's Casper Ruud.</p>.Unwell Alcaraz unlikely to be at 100% for Rublev match at ATP Finals, says coach.<p>"I did surprise myself," Alcaraz, who had to abandon a practice session on Tuesday, said on court. "I just tried to focus on my game and what I had to do and not that I wasn't feeling well. Once you step on court you have to forget that.</p><p>"I felt good from the baseline running and felt I had more options today."</p><p>After sharing the opening six games, Alcaraz broke Rublev's serve with a scorching forehand winner and reeled off five successive games to seize control of the match.</p><p>World number eight Rublev, who also lost his opening match to Alexander Zverev, managed to stay with Alcaraz in the second set and could have earned a couple of break points at 2-2 had he not missed a routine ball after chasing a drop shot.</p><p>Both players served well to take the match into a high-octane tiebreak in which Alcaraz forged ahead but had to fend off two set points before sealing victory.</p><p>Rublev has now lost six successive matches at the ATP Finals in straight sets since reaching the semi-finals in 2022.</p><p>Alcaraz is still likely to need to beat world No.2 Zverev in his last group match on Friday to qualify.</p><p>Zverev will face Ruud later on Wednesday with both players seeking their second win. Should Ruud win, he would guarantee himself a semi-final berth while Rublev would be eliminated.</p><p>None of the seven singles matches this week have gone to three sets.</p>
<p>Turin: Spain's Carlos Alcaraz made light of feeling under the weather as he dispatched Russia's Andrey Rublev in impressive fashion to revive his ATP Finals hopes on Wednesday.</p><p>The Spanish four-time Grand Slam champion has been suffering with respiratory issues in Turin and wore pink nasal tape against Rublev in a resounding 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) victory.</p><p>Third seed Alcaraz, bidding to win the title for the first time, looked far sharper than during his opening group match which ended in a straight-sets defeat by Norway's Casper Ruud.</p>.Unwell Alcaraz unlikely to be at 100% for Rublev match at ATP Finals, says coach.<p>"I did surprise myself," Alcaraz, who had to abandon a practice session on Tuesday, said on court. "I just tried to focus on my game and what I had to do and not that I wasn't feeling well. Once you step on court you have to forget that.</p><p>"I felt good from the baseline running and felt I had more options today."</p><p>After sharing the opening six games, Alcaraz broke Rublev's serve with a scorching forehand winner and reeled off five successive games to seize control of the match.</p><p>World number eight Rublev, who also lost his opening match to Alexander Zverev, managed to stay with Alcaraz in the second set and could have earned a couple of break points at 2-2 had he not missed a routine ball after chasing a drop shot.</p><p>Both players served well to take the match into a high-octane tiebreak in which Alcaraz forged ahead but had to fend off two set points before sealing victory.</p><p>Rublev has now lost six successive matches at the ATP Finals in straight sets since reaching the semi-finals in 2022.</p><p>Alcaraz is still likely to need to beat world No.2 Zverev in his last group match on Friday to qualify.</p><p>Zverev will face Ruud later on Wednesday with both players seeking their second win. Should Ruud win, he would guarantee himself a semi-final berth while Rublev would be eliminated.</p><p>None of the seven singles matches this week have gone to three sets.</p>