Carlos Alcaraz slumped to a shock defeat to Casper Ruud in the ATP Finals 2024. In Turin, it took Ruud an hour and 25 minutes to beat the Spaniard 6-1, 7-5. Ruud also beat Alcaraz for the first time in five meetings. Ruud, who advanced to the championship match in his last ATP Finals appearance in 2022, dominated Alcaraz throughout the duration of the match.
In the first set, Ruud won five games in a row from 1-1 against Alcaraz, who was let down by the 15 unforced errors he made. With his backs against the wall, Alcaraz took a 5-2 lead in the second set, getting closer to forcing a decider. But Ruud came back from behind and won five games in a row to secure his 50th win on tour in 2024.
Ruud was happy after beating Alcaraz for the first time in his career. But he also said that Alcaraz was struggling with his health.
“I don’t know what I expected. I just wanted to play a good match. I tried my best from the first to the last point. Everyone knows how fantastic Carlos is as a player and a person. I never beat him before. So I’m very happy to beat him at least one time,” Ruud said in the on-court interview.
“I kind of knew he was maybe dealing with a bit of a cold. I saw him sniffling around in the area here, always with a tissue for his nose. That’s a sign that maybe physically he won’t be necessarily at 100%. Of course, that’s sad and not good for him. But it’s also part of the game. I knew it coming in,” Ruud added.
Ruud will next be up against either Andrey Rublev or Alexander Zverev on Wednesday, November 13, in the John Newcombe Group. Alcaraz, who is looking for his fifth title this season, will be looking to bounce back and keep alive his hopes of qualifying for the semi-final.
