ATP Finals: Carlos Alcaraz loses in poor opening defeat to Casper Ruud in Turin

Monday, 11 November 2024 at 15:38

The long-awaited debut of Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals 2024 has finally arrived. In his first match of the group stage, he faced Casper Ruud, whom he was unable to beat. After a very weak match, the Spaniard lost 1-6, 5-7 against the Norwegian.

In his second match, Alcaraz will face the loser of the match between Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev. Having lost in straight sets in his debut, Carlitos has no choice but to win the 2 remaining matches of the group stage, and with forcefulness.

A terrible Alcaraz in the first set

In the first set, Alcaraz started with 2 break balls to break the first serve of the match. However, Ruud turned around the two opportunities of the Spaniard to save the game. That opportunity would be missed by Carlitos, who with 1-2 on the scoreboard suffered the first break of the match, with the Norwegian going up to 1-4 after confirming the break, saving another 3 break points.

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Until that moment, Carlos Alcaraz had up to 5 break balls, and he did not take advantage of even one. The consequences would continue to arrive, as the Spaniard suffered a new break that left the first set practically sentenced. With 1-5 and serving, Casper Ruud sealed it 6-1.

An inexplicable second set

In the second set, Carlos Alcaraz had to wipe the slate clean after the disaster of the first set. A good sign was that Carlitos was able to start holding serve. After both shared the following games on serve, the key moment for Alcaraz came at 3-2.

The Spaniard got his first break of the match on Casper Ruud's serve to take a 4-2 lead on his first break chance at 30-40 up. Alcaraz then confirmed the break, and went 5-2 up, close to tying the match.

However, when he was serving to win the second set, Alcaraz suffered a very hard break, which left the score 5-4. Ruud quickly made it 5-5, and taking advantage of his opponent's collapse, he broke again to take a 5-6 lead and serve to win the match. And so it was to be, and the Norwegian gave the surprise in the first match of the ATP Finals 2024, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in two sets.

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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