TURIN.- The Norwegian Casper Ruud, seventh player in the world, gave the surprise in the ATP Masters when beating an unrecognizable Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) by 6-1 and 7-5 this Monday in Turin.
Ruud, more comfortable on clay than on a fast indoor court like the one used in the Masters, scored his first victory against Alcaraz in their fifth meeting.
“This part of the season is not usually good for me, but hopefully I have saved some victories for this week and I have started well,” said Ruud, a finalist in the Masters in 2022, who had just lost seven of his last eight matches before to play in Turin.
“I tried to give my best from the first to the last point. He is a fantastic player, I am happy to finally beat him,” he added.
“The season is almost over, I have nothing to lose,” the Norwegian warned at a press conference.
Alcaraz, winner of Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, was far from his best version, without magic or consistency, committing 34 unforced errors that paved the way for Ruud.
“I didn’t feel good on the court,” the Spaniard admitted in a press conference after the game. “No matter how many times I’ve beaten Casper (Ruud), he’s always a very uncomfortable player to play against.”
“A few days before coming, I got sick at home. In training I felt good, not great, but good. This morning I had pain in my stomach. I don’t want it to sound like an excuse, but I felt bad,” Alcaraz explained. .
“All the players are mentally tired”
After losing the first set in 35 minutes, the Spaniard seemed to react in the second set, with a favorable 5-2 and serve to win, but with a new setback and five games lost in a row he surrendered the match.
A year ago, Alcaraz started the Masters with a defeat against the German Alexander Zverev, but then recovered and reached the semifinals.
“I would dare to say that all the players are mentally tired, anyone who says otherwise is lying,” he added at a press conference, echoing the confession the day before by Russian Daniil Medvedev after his defeat.
“Since the beginning of the year you accumulate hours, days, you arrive at this part of the year tired,” he explained.
“I have said it many times, I think this year I am much better than last, but I have to find a way to perform and offer good tennis even when I am mentally tired,” concluded the young man from Murcia.
Alcaraz also talked about his indoor results, just a few weeks after being eliminated in the round of 16 of the Paris Masters 1000.
“I don’t play much on an indoor court, I have to be better at this stage of the year (…) I think it’s a matter of experience, accumulating matches and hits on indoor courts,” Alcaraz analyzed his shortcomings on this surface.
The second match of the ‘John Newcombe’ group this Monday would pit Zverev (2nd), recent winner of the Paris Masters 1000, against the Russian Andrey Rublev (9th).
