Fritz sees off Musetti as Zverev begins campaign with win vs Shelton in season-ending ATP Finals

Taylor Fritz got his bid for a first ATP Finals crown off to the best possible start with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-4 win over home favourite Lorenzo Musetti in Turin on Monday.

The 28-year-old American, who lost in last year’s final to Jannik Sinner, was out of the blocks quickly in the Jimmy Connors group match, taking an early break and holding on to pocket the first set.

The crowd did their best to lift a visibly fatigued Musetti who was a late addition to the line-up.

He only qualified for the Finals on Saturday after Novak Djokovic pulled out with injury, shortly after beating the Italian in the final of the Athens event.

Winning 84 percent of his first serves and giving away just four break point chances, none of which were taken, Fritz continued to control the match.

The American broke to go 3-1 up and served cleanly all the way to the line.

“I am really happy. I thought I did a lot of things really well,” Fritz said.

“I did a great job early on in the match to serve my way out of trouble and save some break points. The whole second set I played well and had a lot of chances to break that I didn’t get.

“I am really happy I was able to serve it out there and it didn’t come back to ruin it.”

Fritz qualified sixth for the Finals and after finishing runner-up last year is gearing up for another tilt at the title.

“Every time I come here, I like the conditions and it is very easy to get motivated and fired up,” said Fritz.

“You can lock in, it is the last tournament of the year and it is the ATP Finals, it’s a big deal.”

Neither player will have time to rest as both are back on court on Tuesday.

Fritz faces Carlos Alcaraz who also got off to a winning start by beating Alex de Minaur on Sunday while Musetti takes on the Australian.

Meanwhile, former champion Alexander Zverev got underway with a straight-sets win over Ben Shelton.

Third seed Zverev downed Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) in the first match of the Bjorn Borg Group, which also includes Italian top seed Jannik Sinner and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.

In a meeting between two of the biggest servers in the sport, Zverev broke the American fifth seed twice in the opener to edge ahead after less than half-an-hour on court.

The second set then rumbled inevitably towards a tie-break with few break opportunities appearing for either player.

The 2018 and 2021 winner started the breaker sluggishly as Shelton soon brought himself up three set points at 6-3.

But Zverev started the fightback with a superb backhand passing shot, before sealing match point at the first time of asking as Shelton hit long at the end of a lengthy rally.

“In the tie-break, he started off amazing,” Zverev said. “I felt like I had to control the things that I could control.

“I did that well at the end of the tie-break and I’m super happy with that win.”

Earlier, Carlos Alcaraz made a solid start to the ATP Finals on Sunday with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 win over Alex de Minaur,

It was the first time that the Spaniard had won his opening match at the finals. He lost to Zverev and Casper Ruud in the last two years.

“This tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on tour,” world number two Alcaraz said.

“I’ve been struggling in the past few years to come to the end of the year with motivation. This year is a little bit different, which I’m proud about (as) I’m doing the right things to give myself a shot to try and win this tournament.”

It was not all plain sailing in Turin. Leading 4-1 and pressing for 5-1 in the first set, Alcaraz suffered a sudden dip, struggling with his first serves and allowing seventh seed De Minaur to come back to level the score.

Trailing 3-1 and then 5-3 in the tiebreak, Alcaraz rediscovered his touch to level and then break De Minaur to win the first set.

In spite of dropping his service early, the second set was more straightforward as Alcaraz raced away to claim his fifth victory in as many meetings with the Australian.

“It was a really difficult match,” said Alcaraz.

“On this surface, Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he’s super fast and really difficult on return.

Agencies