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It was the first meeting of the pair since Alcaraz beat the German for the French Open title at Roland Garros earlier this year, and revenge was sweet for Zverev as he guaranteed his world No.2 status for the end of the the 2024 season.

“He beat me too many times this year in important matches, so I’m happy that I got this one,” Zverev said after the match.

“Obviously I feel like we have a pretty good rivalry with a great friendship as well, so it’s always nice to play against him.

"Just sharing the court with him. He’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to the next matches with him as well.”

Zverev will finish top of John Newcombe Group at the finals in Turin, and is now looking forward to his meeting with Fritz, the No.5 seed.

“I’m happy with being 3-0 in the group for sure, but I think now the semi-final is going to be very difficult," Zverev said.

"[Taylor] beat me the past few times at the slams, so I’m looking forward to that match.”

Fritz has a 6-5 advantage in their head to head and beat Zverev in two of this year's Majors, dumping the German out of the US Open in four sets at the quarter-finals stage and also recovering from a set down at Wimbledon in the Round of 16 to beat him in four sets before that.

But Zverev is the man in form at the moment. He has an ATP Tour-leading 69 wins across the calendar year, one more than world No.1 Jannik Sinner and the most in a season since Andy Murray won 78 in 2016.