Turin.- Carlos Alcaraz faced a new sensation on Monday afternoon. He had lost a tennis match in a professional circuit tournament and was not eliminated. It is precisely one of the peculiarities that the ATP Finals have, that the group stage allows you to stay alive and even win the title having lost in your debut.
In the rest of the calendar events, any defeat sends you home. But not here. After losing 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 and 6-4 with Alexander Zverev in his debut, Carlitos will go out on the court again this Wednesday to face Andrey Rublev (14:30 on Movistar+) and there he will practically play without a net. It is “practically” because even losing to the Russian, he could reach Friday with some chance of getting into the semifinals.
The ATP Finals, formerly known as the Masters Cup, are one of the most special tournaments. For bringing together the eight best rackets of the year and for that group phase that always makes you take out the calculator to count sets, add up games won and see the face to face between the tennis players.
After losing to Zverev in the midday match, Alcaraz took a shower, recovered physically and went through the microphones to admit that he has reached the end of the year with a melted mind. “It has been a very long and very demanding year. I have to improve to reach this point of the year in better condition, especially on a mental level.“said the number two in the world ranking after accumulating his third consecutive defeat, something unprecedented since he exploded two years ago.
The example of Juan Carlos Ferrero
Afterwards, he left the Pala Alpitour facilities with his team. During dinner, trying to encourage him, they gave him the example of someone he knows very well: Juan Carlos Ferrero. His coach too He started a Masters Cup losing and ended up reaching the final. He was, in fact, a few points away from taking the title, but it slipped away in the fifth set.
It happened in 2002, when the tournament was called the Masters Cup and was held in Shanghai.. The format was the same as now, with two groups of four tennis players, semifinals and final. Ferrero, then number four in the ATP ranking, fell to Roger Federer in his debut 6-3 and 6-4 and then beat Andre Agassi (7-5, 2-6 and 7-6) and Jiri Novak (7-5 and 6-3) to reach the semifinals.
In that round he faced his compatriot Carlos Moyà and came back in an eternal match to end up winning 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 and 6-4. The final was a roller coaster: Lleyton Hewitt took the first two sets, but Ferrero woke up, forced the fifth and even went up a break in the decisive set. However, The balance tipped in the Australian’s favor 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6 and 6-4.
Davydenko, from defeat to the title
Ferrero reached the final in 2002, but There is another even more recent example with a happy ending, that of Nikolay Davidenko in 2009., at the premiere of the Masters at the O2 Arena in London. The Russian started the tournament losing to Novak Djokovic, but then passed the group stage beating Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling; Then he defeated Roger Federer in the semifinals and knocked down Juan Martín del Potro to win the most important title of his career.
“It is the only tournament in which a defeat does not eliminate you“Alcaraz said on Monday, trying to see the positive side of his match with Zverev. “I have opportunities to continue improving and be able to get through the group stage. Tomorrow I will train to improve all the things I haven’t done well today, which are quite a few.”
Nacho Encabo is a sports editor at Relevo, a specialist in tennis and the Olympic Games. Born in Madrid, he studied Journalism and Audiovisual Communication at the Rey Juan Carlos University and began as an intern in the sports section of El Mundo in 2011. Knowing German shortly after opened the doors of the dpa agency, where he worked as a special envoy to the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, the 2016 Euro Cup in France and the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In addition, adding Relay and the rest of his career, he has covered the four tennis Grand Slams, the Davis Cup , athletics world championships, Formula 1 Grand Prix and countless LaLiga and Champions League matches. He has also worked as a reporter at El Independiente and traveled to the Tokyo Olympics on the Spanish Olympic Committee team. …
2023-11-15 05:29:14
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