Alcaraz stretched before winning

Carlos Alcaraz came through a thriller against Taylor Fritz to move within one win of the year-end world number one ranking and Lorenzo Musetti captivated the crowd at the ATP Finals in Turin.
Spanish top seed Alcaraz battled back to overcome American Fritz 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 in a high-quality two-hour and 48-minute contest.
But despite achieving back-to-back victories, Alcaraz must wait to confirm his place in the knockout stages after Musetti’s stirring victory against Alex de Minaur.
Backed by passionate support, ninth seed Musetti produced a remarkable comeback from 5-3 down in the deciding set to prevail 7-5 3-6 7-5.
Alcaraz will seal the world number one ranking - and a place in the semi-finals - with victory over Musetti on Thursday.
Rival Jannik Sinner must defend his title and hope Alcaraz loses a group match and does not reach the final to claim the top ranking.
On whether achieving the year-end number one ranking played on his mind during his match, Alcaraz, 22, said: “It’s really difficult not to think about the number one spot.
“At the beginning of the match I thought a little bit about it. During the match there were a lot of things to think about.
“The number one thoughts - I didn’t think about it at all during the match.”
Having contested six matches in the past seven days after his run to the Athens Open final, Musetti will be grateful for a rest after his two-hour and 48-minute epic.
Musetti, 23, said: “With a big heart and a big passion - I don’t know from where - I started to play better.
“The support of the crowd was amazing, so I have to thank them all.”
Musetti’s match against De Minaur was paused for about eight minutes because of a medical emergency in the stands. Two spectators died from cardiac arrests at the tournament on Monday.(BBC sport)