TURIN: Carlos Alcaraz opened his account at the ATP Finals on Wednesday with an entertaining 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) win over Andrey Rublev which boosted his hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

World number three Alcaraz comfortably defeated Rublev to lift himself off the bottom of the John Newcombe Group and looked in much better form despite struggling with fatigue and illness in the lead-up to the match.

There had been some doubt as to whether Alcaraz would continue in Turin after quickly ending his training session on Tuesday, with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero saying that he had trouble breathing.

But the Spaniard, winner at Wimbledon and Roland Garros this season, cruised to the first set in 38 minutes, breaking Rublev in game seven and quickly winning the next two to go one set ahead. And although he had a harder time of it in the second set Alcaraz delighted fans in Turin with a series of spectacular shots which suggested he might be approaching his best form.