Carlos Alcaraz got off to a nightmare start. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO
There was the first big surprise at the ATP Finals on Monday afternoon. Right in the middle: superstar Carlos Alcaraz.
11. November 2024
From: dpa/det
The Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz experienced a nasty surprise at the start of the ATP Finals. The Wimbledon and French Open champion lost his first group game against Norwegian Casper Ruud in Turin after a disappointing start 1:6, 5:7. This puts the Spaniard under pressure in the group with world number two Alexander Zverev and has to worry about his participation in the semi-finals of the season finale.
Alcaraz, who unexpectedly failed in the round of 16 at the Masters 1000 event in Paris, made too many easy mistakes overall. He initially got into the game better in the second set and was already leading 5-2 thanks to an increase in performance. But instead of securing the equalizer of the set, the 21-year-old suffered another weak phase and gave up his serve game to make it 5:4. Alcaraz hardly managed anything and after 1:25 hours the opening defeat was sealed.
Casper Ruud celebrates the victory. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO
For the first time, the Spaniard lost to the world number seven in the fifth match. Now Alcaraz has to score points in the remaining group games against Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, otherwise the semi-finals could take place without him. As a reminder: only the first two of the group of four advance to the semi-finals. Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and Alex De Minaur are in action in the parallel group.
