A real thunderbolt in Turin! Bag on his shoulder, head bowed, Carlos Alcaraz quickly leaves the Pala Alpitour Central. The Spaniard, world No. 3, one of the big favorites for the ATP Finals behind the local Jannik Sinner, lost on his debut in the John Newcombe group against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, No. 7 in the world ranking (6 -1, 7-5 in 1h25).
Beyond the dry result, it is above all the manner which appeals to the Murcian, a priori victim of a cold snap and sometimes seeming to lack combativeness against a Casper who has nevertheless been ghostly on the circuit for two and a half months (two small victories). “I really didn’t know what to expect from this match,” admits the two-time Roland-Garros finalist. My end of the season really wasn’t great. I had never beaten Carlos (in four attempts) and I can say that I beat him at least once…”
In the first half hour and a set quickly conceded 6-1 under the both stunned and perplexed gaze of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz was completely unrecognizable. Undoubtedly one of the worst rounds played by the Murcian, who completely collapsed after having break points at 1-3 to the point of conceding eleven of the last twelve points of the set.
Alcaraz concedes a 5-0
From the start of the second act, the Spaniard seemed to shift gears and corrected his serve, while remaining a little too greedy on drop shots. Enough to get back on track and lead 5-2. Before a first class collapse.
At 5-3, a catastrophic service game allowed the Scandinavian to come back. At 5-5, 30A, a huge attack error on the forehand then a rocket in return sounded the death knell for the last hopes of the Iberian, who ended up capitulating in the next game on an ace on the third match point of his opponent.
If he is not yet eliminated in view of the group formula, Alcaraz will have to show another face and above all get back to health on Wednesday against Zverev or Rublev. His start is all the more disappointing as he has been preparing for many weeks for his last individual meeting of the year (he will then have the Davis Cup in Malaga with Rafael Nadal’s farewell). In his academy near Valencia, he even installed a surface identical to the one he found in Italy.
“The end of last year was difficult for me. I couldn’t play at my best level. Obviously, the last two group matches (at the ATP Finals, where he lost in the semi-final against Djokovic) had been very good for me, but the two, three or four previous tournaments, I had not played at my best level, he explained before the start of the competition. So I understood that I had to make changes, which I did this year…”