MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. /TASS/. World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain defeated on Wednesday Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the group stage match of the 2023 ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) Finals tournament in Italy.

In a match that lasted for one hour and 14 minutes, the Spaniard blasted past his Russian opponent with straight sets win of 7-5; 6-2.

"It was a totally different match and level from me," the ATP official website quoted Alcaraz as saying after his win over Rublev. "This is the level I have to play if I want to give myself a chance in this amazing tournament."

"Yesterday was a good day for me in practice to find the level I needed to show today and I think I did pretty well. I am very happy with my level," he stated.

Alcaraz is set to play in his final round-robin match on Friday against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and speaking about the upcoming encounter with Russia’s top tennis player the Spaniard said: "I need to relax."

"I need to hit first. You need to be more aggressive than your opponent. I think that is key if you want to have chances in this tournament," the Spanish tennis star added.

Alcaraz, 20, has 12 ATP tournament titles under his belt winning six of them this year. He is also the winner of two Grand Slam tournaments, namely the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Wimbledon. The Spaniard is making a debut at the ATP Finals tournament this year. He qualified for the tournament last year as well but was forced to skip it due to an injury.

Rublev, 26, is currently ranked 5th in the ATP World Rankings and has 14 ATP tournament titles to his name, two of those wins coming this year. He has also appeared in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, albeit never advancing beyond the quarterfinals. Rublev took home the gold at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.

Later in the day, Medvedev is set to clash with Germany’s Alexander Zverev in their group stage match.

Medvedev and Rublev play on the ATP tour as neutrals and they have been placed in the Red Group for the prestigious tournament in Italy alongside Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz from Spain.

The so-called Green Group of the 2023 ATP Finals contains World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Italy’s Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece and Denmark’s Holger Rune.

The ATP Finals is the season-ending event bringing together the top-ranked tennis players in singles and doubles competitions. It is played on indoor hard courts in the Italian city of Turin between November 12 and 19 and offers $14.75 million in prize money.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also cancelling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.