Alcaraz Overcomes Sickness To Beat Rublev In Must-Win Match At ATP Finals

Carlos Alcaraz kept himself in play at the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin by beating Andrey Rublev in his second round-robin match.

Alcaraz's 2024 ATP Finals have been marked by an unfortunate sickness that bothered him in his first match, which was a straight-sets loss to Casper Ruud. That turned the remainder of the tournament into a format that the Spaniard knows really well, he had to win all of the remaining matches.

His next opponent was Rublev, who also lost his first match at the event, as Alexander Zverev proved to be too strong. That meant both had a semi-final spot at stake in this match, and they contested it as such a match.

Alcaraz entered the court wearing a nasal strip, which he also used during one of his practice sessions. Although still visibly bothered by the sickness, it was clear from the first ball that the Spaniard likely felt much better in this match than in the one against Ruud.

He played authoritative tennis, and in the fifth game of the opening set, he created the first two break point chances. Rublev, however, saved both of those to hold his serve, leading 3-2.

But Alcaraz was the better player in the first set, and it showed in the following four games. The Spaniard was able to show a really high level of tennis, winning his following service games and also breaking his opponent's serve twice to win the first set 6-3.

They weren't easy games, as he had to come from behind in three of those four games. From 3-3, the 21-year-old first won four points in a row after Rublev led 40-15 on his serve with two game points. After that, Alcaraz also recovered from a 0-30 deficit two times in a row, the first time by winning four points in a row on his serve and then on his opponent's.

It was certainly a set that slipped out of Rublev's hands, and he wanted to right the wrongs in the second set of the match. Both were stunning on their serve, so the set had to be decided in a tie-break.

Like the second set, the tie-break was also tightly contested. Alcaraz got the first mini-break, but at 5-3, he lost it, so Rublev was the first player to have a set point, leading 6-5.

The Spanish player was able to save it and work his way to a match point, leading 7-6. But his Russian opponent also held both of his serves to force another set point, this time leading 8-7.

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However, Alcaraz had the last say, winning the last three points of the match to win the tie-break 10-8 and the match 6-3, 7-6(8), securing his first win at the 2024 ATP Finals.

Following the match, the World No. 3 player admitted that while he didn't necessarily feel better in his match against Rublev than he did against Ruud, his mindset certainly improved.

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