Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz loses his first match at the ATP Masters

We only had to wait until the third match of the ATP Masters to witness the first surprise, and it was a big one: Carlos Alcaraz, convalescent and uninspired, was no match for Monday against Casper Ruud (1-6 , 5-7), who had never beaten him. Like last year for his debut at the Masters, the Spanish prodigy (21 years old) started the “masters tournament” with a defeat.

This did not prevent him from reaching the last four in 2023. However, this could prove prohibitive this year for the world No. 3: qualification for the semi-finals could require an imperative victory against Alexander Zverev, No. 2 in the world and recent winner of the Masters 1000 in Paris.

Alcaraz – who had won his previous four duels against Ruud – was by his own admission having a bad day. He finished the match with 25 unforced errors, multiplying bad decisions between uninspired drop shots and approximate net runs. Result: a nightmarish first round lost in 35 minutes, followed by a surge in the second set to lead 5-2, before collapsing once again and conceding five games in a row.

“I didn’t feel good on the court and that’s not forgiving against a player like Casper who knows how to put you under pressure, I can clearly play better,” he explained at a press conference.

“Before I got here, I was sick at home. Since I arrived, I feel OK, not great, but OK. This morning (editor’s note: Monday), I had a stomach ache, I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m not looking for excuses,” continued the Spaniard, winner this year of Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. “At this stage of the season, we are all tired, but some manage this fatigue better than others. I’m tired, mentally too. I played a lot, with a busy schedule without much rest or training periods,” he noted.

This defeat once again underlines his difficulties at this time of the season, when the tournaments take up residence on cement indoors: he did not go beyond the round of 16 in Paris. “I don’t play much indoors, I need to be better during this period of the season. It’s a question of time, of experience, I’m sure it will come, but a lot of players are better than me indoors, that’s clear,” he agreed.

For Ruud, this victory – the second of his career against a member of the top 3 – is a nice surprise. “I am undoubtedly the one who joined Turin with the least confidence,” smiled the Norwegian, in reference to his eliminations upon entering the competition successively in Basel, Paris and Metz. “But the season is almost over, I have nothing more to lose,” he warned.

The ATP Masters is particularly successful for him: he reached the final four in 2021 for his first participation, then the final the following year.

At the end of the evening, Zverev easily passed the obstacle of the unpredictable Andrey Rublev (8th): the German signed his 67th victory of the season in two sets (6-4, 6-4), as there was is just one year old against this same opponent and at this same stage of the competition. “I had a solid match, it’s a good start,” he said.