Spain’s
Carlos Alcaraz has opened up about feeling unwell
during the first match of the
ATP Finals. The 21-year-old, who is already
regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the
singles category, lost his opening game of the mega-event on Monday against
Norway’s Casper Ruud in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-5.
After the match, Alcaraz spoke to the media, and he opened
up about the difficulties he had during the match. The reigning world number
three revealed that he got sick while at home before landin in Turin for the competition
but later felt better. However, on the match day, he felt unwell again, even
during the match, which caused him a lot of trouble on the court.
“Well, a few days before coming here, I got sick at home,”
he said. And yeah, the days that I was practicing here, I was feeling okay. Not
pretty good, but okay. I could play. I could feel that I can get into the
rallies in the practice. Obviously, in the matches it is totally different. But
today I didn't feel well. In this morning, I feel uncomfortable in the stomach.
After long rallies today, I couldn't feel well. I don't want to, you know, say
because I don't want to sound like an excuse. But if I feel bad, I feel bad. It
is what happened today.”
Alcaraz’s defeat on Monday means that now he has a very
tough task of staying alive in the competition. The next contest for the
four-time Grand Slam winner will be against the reigning world number two,
Germany’s Alexander Zverev on Wednesday. It will be the 11th meeting
between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous 10 meetings,
both players won on five occasions each. Their most recent meeting was during
the final of the French Open earlier this year where Alcaraz came out on top in
a five-set thriller with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.