Carlos Alcaraz will have left the court in the Inalpi Arena with a bad taste in his mouth after losing to Casper Ruud in his 2024 Nitto ATP Finals opener.
The Spaniard, who only managed to win one game in the first set, looked ready to mount a comeback with a 5-2 lead in the second set, but he eventually lost to a player who he had previously always beaten (4-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series before today). Alcaraz must now endure an uphill struggle if he is to progress from the John Newcombe Group.
“I don’t like talking about things like this because it sounds like an excuse and I don’t want to take anything away from what Casper did to win the match,” began Alcaraz. “Before coming here, I was unwell at home. When I got to Turin, practice was going well; I could handle long rallies, competing and playing. And I hoped things would get better as the days went by.
"I don’t know if it was because of the nerves of the first match, but I didn’t feel completely well. My stomach limited my game a lot and made me feel uncomfortable. I could’ve done better. I’m not going to feel good in every match I play throughout the year, but it really limited me in terms of my recovery.”
[ATP APP]After scavenging just one game in the opening set, the four-time Grand Slam champion stepped things up and changed the dynamic of the encounter, earning himself a 5-2 lead. He was on the brink of taking the match to a deciding set, but Ruud had other ideas, digging deep to win five consecutive games and putting the final nail in Alcaraz’s coffin.
The Spaniard now has very little room for error if he wants to remain in Turin for Saturday’s semi-finals.
“I don’t want to think much beyond today... Given how I’ve felt, it’s difficult to think about the semis,” said Alcaraz. “The good thing in this sport is that your game can feel very bad one day and very good the next.
"There have been many players who have lost the first match of the [Nitto] ATP Finals and ended up winning. I reached the semis last year after losing on the first day. Now I want to take it day by day, to feel better, and see how the next match is. I’ll approach it as best I can. Let’s hope things turn out well.”
Alcaraz will be back on court on Wednesday, when he takes on the loser of tonight’s clash between Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev.
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