Monday, November 11, 2024, 3:59 p.m.
| Updated 4:50 p.m.
Carlos Alcaraz chose one of the best tournaments of the year to play one of the worst matches of the entire course, if not the worst. He was upset and lost in the defeat against Casper Ruud (6-1 and 7-5), the first of his career against the Norwegian, but he has the good news that this is the only event that allows for stumbles. If he wins his next two matches, against Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, he will have a good chance of being in the semifinals.
The Murcian, who had not competed since he said goodbye in the second round of the Paris-Bercy Masters 1,000, committed 34 unforced errors, more than double that of Ruud (16), and was erratic on the break balls (1 of 6 ). In addition, the best version of Ruud was found, who did not appear to come from four consecutive defeats and having lost nine of his last eleven games.
The Norwegian, with a higher level of aggression than usual, going up to the net and looking for winners against the rest, won the second set of his career against Alcaraz in just over half an hour, the first since the US Open final in 2022 It was the second consecutive match in which they won 6-1, after the second round of Paris-Bercy against Ugo Humbert. and the sixth set he has lost this year due to this result.
Alcaraz made 18 unforced errors in this set and only five winners, in addition to wasting the five balls he had to break the Norwegian. His body language was not the best either, lethargic, without fury, and although he started in the second set and scored his first break with a volley, it did not take long for him to dissipate.
The lace
The 5-2 he had at his disposal lasted a few moments. Ruud turned it into a 5-5 and to finish off he took the final two games while Alcaraz only added unforced errors. The Norwegian, who had never beaten the Spaniard in their four previous meetings, nailed two direct aces, one impossible to return, and although he needed three match points to score the victory, he ended up defeating a sad Alcaraz.
“It was the best victory of my season,” Ruud said after the match. The Murcian left the Turin court in less than an hour and a half, with many doubts and a huge margin for improvement for the next match. He still has no rival for this Wednesday, since he will be the loser of the match between Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev. The organization does this to prevent a game with nothing at stake on the third day of the group.
What Alcaraz has already lost is the opportunity to win the tournament undefeated, so he could add, at most, 1,300 points and is no longer eligible for the 4.4 million pot for the man who manages to win all five games.
