"I couldn't feel well": Carlos Alcaraz opens up about feeling 'unwell' in defeat to Casper Ruud in ATP Finals opener

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.

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“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.”

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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.