Casper Ruud loses against Carlos Alcaraz, who defeats Andrey Rublev to win his first ATP Finals match. Casper Ruud lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets, missing an early opportunity to advance to the semi-finals, while Carlos Alcaraz launched his ATP Finals career with a thrilling 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) victory over Andrey Rublev. Despite battling exhaustion and illness in the run-up to the match, world number three Alcaraz easily overcame Rublev to move up from the bottom of the John Newcombe Group. He appeared to be in much better form.
After abruptly abandoning his training session on Tuesday, there was some uncertainty as to whether Alcaraz, who lost his initial match to Ruud in straight sets, would continue in Turin. After defeating Rublev, Alcaraz declared in court, “I could be better, I’m not going to lie,”
“I assumed I would feel better today after having health issues for the past week. I was fine to play, but I kept thinking about the first game and how I was unwell and couldn’t play. I believed that I did not amuse the crowd during my first match since I did not play good tennis.
Alcaraz, the current Wimbledon and French Open champion, easily took the opening set in 38 minutes. Even though the Spaniard struggled in the second set, he still thrilled the crowd with a string of incredible strokes that gave the impression that he might be getting close to his peak.
Ruud loses the opportunity
Despite a valiant effort and two chances to win the second set, Rublev loses his sixth consecutive Finals match and falls to last place. Had Ruud defeated two-time Finals champion Alexander Zverev in the day’s final match, Ruud would have advanced to the semi-finals with a match to spare after Alcaraz’s victory in straight sets.
But with his second victory in as many games, Zverev put on a scathing performance to win in straight sets 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, and virtually guarantee a place in the round of four. After a first set that had previously been decided by service, Zverev gained control of the match in the tie-break. The two fought back and forth until the German broke in position eight of the final set and then served to love to win the match.
Zverev remarked on the court, “I think it served as a very good match actually from both of us,” “I’m glad I won tonight, but it was a very close race. The first set was decided by one or two points, and I felt that the level was high.