ATP Finals, Alcaraz surprised by Ruud: “I’m tired and my stomach hurts.”

ATP Finals, Alcaraz surprised by Ruud: "I’m tired and my stomach aches"

Like last year, Carlos Alcaraz’s ATP Finals are not off to the best start. But if in 2023 the Spaniard had given way to Zverev, this year the defeat on the’debut è was definitely unexpected: to beat him è Casper Ruud, who was back from only one victory in the last eight matches played.

Alcaraz, però, was not well: for days in Turin he has been seen always wandering around with a handkerchief at hand, and even in the press conference è came the confirmation: "I got sick a couple of days before arriving here", told in the press conference the world no°3. “This morning I had an upset stomach, in long exchanges I didn’t feel well”.

Nothing worked for the first good half hour: a very solid Ruud è was enough to snatch even 6-1 the first set from Alcaraz, who could not find the court. The Spaniard tried to raise the level in the second partial and at one point it seemed the match had turned: Carlitos è went up 5-2, but at the moment of serving for the set in the ninth game he suffered the counter break. 

“Every player è tired mentally, if someone says they are fresh they are lying”, admits the Spaniard, closing with a laconic “I am tired”. Wednesday will already be almost an inside-out for Carlitos, who still has a way to pick himself up, but now he cannot make any more mistakes.

Giovanni Pelazzo