Carlos Alcaraz has had a nightmare start. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

ATP Finals: The first big surprise in Turin

The first big surprise occurred at the ATP Finals on Monday afternoon. Right in the middle: superstar Carlos Alcaraz.

11 November 2024

From: dpa/det

Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz experienced a nasty surprise at the start of the ATP Finals. The Wimbledon and French Open champion lost his first group match against Norwegian Casper Ruud in Turin after a disappointing start with 1:6, 5:7. This puts the Spaniard under pressure in the group with world number two Alexander Zverev and he has to fear for his place in the semi-finals at the season finale.

Alcaraz, who unexpectedly failed in the round of 1000 at the Masters 5 event in Paris, made too many easy mistakes overall. He did start better in the second set and was already leading 2:21 thanks to an improvement in his performance. But instead of securing the set equaliser, the 5-year-old had another weak phase and lost his serve to make it 4:1. Alcaraz hardly managed anything else, and after 25:XNUMX hours the opening defeat was sealed.

Casper Ruud celebrates his victory. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

For the first time, the Spaniard lost to the world number seven in the fifth match. Alcaraz now has to score points in the other group matches against Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, otherwise the semifinals could take place without him. As a reminder: only the first two in the group of four advance to the semifinals. Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and Alex De Minaur are in action in the parallel group.