In the ATP Finals’ Day 2, there was a shocking surprise. Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by Casper Ruud in the first match of the ‘John Newcombe group’, creating a situation that no one would have expected before the start of the tournament. The Norwegian ace – finalist in Turin in 2022 (when he was defeated by Novak Djokovic) – was considered the weakest player in this edition of the ATP Finals, having achieved disastrous results after the US Open. Ruud played the best match of his season yesterday, but Carlitos was far from the best condition.
The world number 3 confided that he was not feeling well even before his arrival in Turin and that his health condition worsened the night before the match against Ruud. The 21-year-old from Murcia could have won the second set, in which he led 5-2, before his opponent won five consecutive games.
Last year, the Spanish ace lost his first match to Sascha Zverev, qualifying for the semifinals as second in his group. The 4-time Grand Slam champion will return to action tomorrow against Andrey Rublev, who was defeated by Zverev in straight sets. Alcaraz and Rublev faced each other this year in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, in which the Russian also prevailed due to the precarious condition of his rival injured in his forearm.
Carlitos still has a chance
Despite losing the first match in straight sets, Carlitos still has a chance to qualify for the semifinals. The former world No. 1 must defeat Rublev in straight sets on Wednesday and hope Zverev beats Ruud. On Friday – on the last day of the group stage – Alcaraz needs to defeat Zverev, while Rublev must beat Ruud.
The Spanish ace’s health conditions will have to improve in the next few hours to have a chance of winning the next match, otherwise his run at the ATP Finals could end very soon. “Well, a few days before coming here, I got sick at home. And yeah, the days that I was practicing here, I was feeling okay. Not pretty good, but okay. I could play. I could feel that I can get into the rallies in the practice. Obviously, in the matches is totally different,” Alcaraz stated during his press conference. “But today I didn’t feel well. In this morning, I feel uncomfortable in the stomach. After long rallies today, I couldn’t feel well… I don’t want to, you know, say because I don’t want to sound like an excuse. But if I feel bad, I feel bad. It is what happened today,” he added.
The Spaniard is really tired at this point of the season: “Some players deal with it better than others. I’m tired. I’m tired mentally. Obviously a lot of matches, really tight schedule, really demanding year with not too many days off, not too many period of you could rest, you could practice at home.”
Ruud was really impressive
Ruud was very good at taking advantage of Carlitos’ precarious condition to get a very important win, which increased his chances of entering the semifinals. Casper has had a lot of difficulties in recent months, but he could end the season on a high note. After the match, Ruud said that he knew Carlitos was not at his best: “I kind of knew he was maybe dealing with a bit of a cold. I saw him sniffling around in the area here, always with a tissue for his nose.
That’s a sign that maybe physically he won’t be necessarily at 100%. Of course that’s sad and not good for him. But it’s also part of the game. I knew it coming in. I tried to make him play rallies and do my best. It’s not easy. When you know someone isn’t 100%, you get stressed. You think ‘Oh, this is a really big chance for me to win.’”
The world No.7 can be very proud of himself: “It’s only one match but it’s one of the best wins of the season in terms of who I am playing and his ranking. I feel really happy of course I think we have seen Carlos play better tennis but I took care of my chances. I haven’t been boosting with confidence in the last few months so it’s a great win for me and I would like to get some more wins in Turin.” As already mentioned, Ruud had reached the final at the ATP Finals two years ago by surrendering to 24-time Grand Slam champion Nole Djokovic. The surface is slower than last year, a factor that helps Casper’s game.
