Carlos Alcaraz wrapped up his 2024 Australian Open preparations with a dominant victory over Casper Ruud.
The two have met on the grandest stage before, when the young Spaniard bested Ruud in the 2022 US Open, becoming the youngest man to be world no. 1 as a result of the victory.
Now, the two have met in a charity match ahead of the season's first Grand Slam, as Alcaraz was the only player to complete to matches before the tournament, opting not to play any official ATP tournaments.
In his first match, the world no. 2 lost to home hero Alex de Minaur, but his second match in front of the packed Rod Laver Arena was much more successful, despite a rocky start.
Early in the match, it seemed that the Norwegian was the better player, breaking his opponent's serve in the sixth game to lead 4-2, and with 40-0 lead on his own serve, things were looking very good for him.
But he couldn't be prepared for what followed afterwards. Alcaraz increased the intensity on return significantly, troubling his opponent with each one of his returns, and shockingly, he won the following four games to win the first set 6-4, despite facing a 0-40 deficit on his opponent's serve.
But the counter of consecutive games won didn't stop at four. In the second set, the 20-year-old added another four to lead 4-0, looking for a bagel to end his preparations for the first Grand Slam of the season.
However, Ruud was able to win one game on his serve, and even create a chance to break in the following game, but after he didn't succeed, the scoreboard showed already 5-1 for his opponent.
Alcaraz was able to finish off the match comfortably, winning the match 6-4, 6-2, and now, he'll prepare to face Richard Gasquet in his opening match at the 2024 Australian Open.
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