TURIN, Italy (AP) 鈥� Carlos Alcaraz was the big name missing when the last two semifinal spots were filled at the on Friday.
Alcaraz's 7-6 (5), 6-4 loss to Alexander Zverev meant the French Open and Wimbledon champion 鈥� who has been sick this week 鈥� was eliminated from the elite, eight-man tournament.
In Saturday's semifinals, Zverev will meet Taylor Fritz and will play Casper Ruud.
鈥淢y goal," Alcaraz said, "(is) to be at the end (of tournaments) all the time. Every tournament that I鈥檓 going to play at least reach the semifinal, final. So I have to work. ... In 2025, I hope to be a better player and (have) more consistency.鈥�
Ruud advanced by beating Andrey Rublev 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Zverev finished with a perfect three victories to win his round-robin group. Ruud had two wins, Alcaraz had one and Rublev had none.
Alcaraz turned on the style in the final game but lost a crucial point when he couldn鈥檛 fully reach a Zverev passing attempt and ended up sprawled on the court.
鈥淗e turns into a different person. He really plays his best at the most important moments,鈥� Zverev said. 鈥淭he last game was the most entertaining game of the match.鈥�
Sinner won the other group ahead of Fritz.
Alcaraz again wore a pink nose strip after struggling with breathing issues in his opening loss to Ruud.
Zverev leapfrogged Alcaraz to No. 2 in the rankings this week and took a 6-5 edge in their career meetings.
It was a measure of revenge for Zverev, who was beaten by Alcaraz in five sets in the .
Zverev has bigger goals than reaching No. 2 for next year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret, I鈥檓 searching for that Grand Slam title. I鈥檓 searching for world No. 1," he said. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 not Roland Garros, but it鈥檚 Australia, I鈥檒l sign the paper right now.鈥�
Alcaraz was already looking ahead to Malaga and next week's Davis Cup finals, where he will play for Spain in Rafael Nadal's swansong.
鈥淚 really want him to retire with a title,鈥� Alcaraz said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be really, really emotional and a really special tournament for me.鈥�
Ruud lost his opening match in six of his seven previous tournaments. But he's into the semifinals for the third time in three appearances at the finals.
鈥淭ennis is interesting sometimes. I don't know what I'm doing better this week than the last weeks," Ruud said. "The only thing I can really feel is serving: I'm serving really good, so hopefully I can keep it going tomorrow 鈥� I'm going to need it.鈥�
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AP tennis:
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
