The Spaniard, world No. 3, was dominated by Casper Ruud during his first group match at the ATP Finals in Turin (6-1, 7-5 in 1h25).
Clearly Carlos Alcaraz often gets stuck at the end of the season. Beaten by Ugo Humbert in the round of 16 of the Rolex Paris Masters, the four-time Grand Slam winner was surprised from the start by Casper Ruud in Turin this Monday afternoon. After a nightmare first set, where he was swept away 6-1, the winner of Roland-Garros raised his head to lead 5-2 in the next set. But Ruud, eye-catching, took advantage of the prodigy’s lack of inspiration and sensations to string together no less than five consecutive games and win on his third match point. Ruud, generally more comfortable on clay, signs his first victory against Alcaraz in five confrontations. Reaction expected in two days for the Spaniard, semi-finalist last year, but unrecognizable this Monday.
Author of 33 unforced errors (24 winning shots), compared to only 16 for Ruud, Alcaraz has suffered, it is true, from a bad cold since his arrival in Italy. This surprise defeat of Alcaraz calls into question the expected scenario. That of an Alcaraz – Zverev duel for first place in the group.
