Carlos Alcaraz lost his first match at the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin to Casper Ruud, and his sickness and opponent's level were mainly to blame.
Even athletes can't choose when they get sick, even though they certainly do their best to peak at the best moments. In particular, they certainly want to play their best at majors, but also at tournaments such as the ATP Finals.
After his disappointing third-round loss to Ugo Humbert at the 2024 Paris Masters, the 21-year-old wanted to return to winning ways at the ATP Finals in Turin, and he made his best efforts to have a good tournament.
His coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, even installed a court that mimics the one used at the ATP Finals in their training facility to maximize the Spaniard's chances of succeeding at the year-end championship.
Unfortunately for Alcaraz, he got sick just before the start of the tournament, which significantly impacted his chances of succeeding at the tournament. During his practice sessions before his match, the Spaniard was seen blowing his nose multiple times.
He still stepped onto the court against Ruud, even though it quickly became obvious that he wasn't 100% healthy. That's something that Ruud tried not to be distracted by, focusing on winning the match.
Still, the Spanish player had the first two break points of the match, already in the opening game. However, he couldn't use them, and that proved to be costly. Ruud broke already in the fourth game, leading 3-1.
Alcaraz had a chance to break back, with three more break points in the fifth game, but again, he couldn't convert any of those chances. Ruud remained solid, breaking once again and holding also in his last service game to dominantly win the first set 6-1.
It seemed that Alcaraz could get better in the second set, as both players held their serve without too many issues. In the sixth game, the Spanish player even got to a break point chance, and this time, he converted it.
Leading 4-2, the World No. 3 held his serve to lead 5-2, and when leading 30-15 on his opponent's serve, the four-time major winner was only two points away from winning the set.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn't keep that level for too long. Ruud stepped up, winning five games in a row to win the second set and the match, 6-1, 7-5, to secure his first win at the 2024 ATP Finals.
Naturally, the Norwegian player was happy about the victory, especially since he lost in all of their previous meetings.
"I don’t know what I expected. I just wanted to play a good match. I tried my best from the first to the last point. Everyone knows how fantastic Carlos is as a player and a person. I never beat him before. So I’m very happy to beat him at least one time."
Alcaraz will now try to get healthy before his next match, which will be played on Wednesday. To advance, he will likely need to beat both Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, but to do that, he will need to be healthy.
Ruud, obviously, will want to beat these players, too. After the match, the Norwegian player admitted that he was aware that his opponent was sick, but he still tried to give his best to win the match without too many complications.
"I kind of knew he was maybe dealing with a bit of a cold. I saw him sniffling around in the area here, always with a tissue for his nose. That’s a sign that maybe, physically, he won’t necessarily be at 100%. Of course, that’s sad and not good for him. But it’s also part of the game."
"I knew it coming in. I tried to make him play rallies and do my best. It’s not easy. When you know someone isn’t 100%, you get stressed. You think, 'Oh, this is a really big chance for me to win.'"
"I tried to stay in my world, the moment. Luckily I got a good start. Second set I was able to turn it around and play some good tennis at the end."