miraculous resurrection of Carlos Alcaraz. From nothing to everything in two days. From an apathetic tennis player, exhausted physically and mentally, to an energetic and excited athlete, spreading the talent that remained caked on Monday, when he lost to Casper Ruud by 6-1 and 7-5.
On Tuesday he didn’t even train. He tried but he felt just as bad as he did at his sporting debut. I was doing a sprint. Not even this, with a medium displacement, was enough to cause lack of air. Difficulty breathing, chest tightness. Sick for a few days, before arriving in Turin.
“A bad time to get sick,” he lamented. Carlos Alcaraz. From the negativity of Monday and Tuesday to the accelerated recharge of strength and ambition on Wednesday. He was on the ropes, he risked saying goodbye to the possibility of the semifinals of the ATP Finals already on the second day of the John Newcombe Groupthe cold offered a slight respite, it opened the crack through which an improved tennis player slipped in, still with a broken voice but determined to accept the situation and find solutions on the fly. With them the sensations improved, his head and body became active. The power of the mind, the ability of the chosen ones when they look for an escape.
And he is still in the fight to repeat the semifinals at the ATP Finals. Not only did he achieve victory over the Russian Andrey Rublevbut with the necessary forcefulness in case we have to resort to triple ties on the final day.
Alcaraz, 21 years old and world No. 3, beat Rublev, 27 years old and No. 8, by 6-3 and 7-6 (8) in 1h.36′repeating what happened twelve months ago (7-5 and 6-2 in 2023). He mitigated the opening KO, balanced the number of sets won and lost (2-2), which is the first element of a three-way tiebreaker. Thanks to the fact that he raised 5-6 and 7-8 in the tiebreak. He saved two set points that could be very important on Friday. He couldn’t finish with 7-6, he did with 9-8. And he celebrated it in a big way. For him, a feat. Also liberation.
He recovered a little less in the percentage of games (19-22). And, best of all, he was himself. He played as if he hadn’t had a cold.
As a change of scenery, he appeared on the runway with a striking fuchsia nose strip. He had already worn it on some occasions in Turin, although in training. He bet on her in competition. He used all the resources at his disposal to be competitive.
Other Alcaraz, who immediately taught Rublev that he was ready to play as he knows how. He applied himself a lot with the serve, the best ally on a hard, indoor court, which gives quick points and also helps limit wear and tear. 10 aces, no break balls against.
Too forceful for a Rublev which added its sixth consecutive defeat in the ATP Finals, which has reached the final stretch of the course saturated.
The Russian saved himself in the fifth game by coming back from 15-40 on first serves, but he got mixed up in the seventh, and gave up his serve. He had doubts and reinforced Alcaraz with that award, which led to a 5-0 run for the Spaniard.
Rublev recovered in the second set. It is a Masters, the best of the course are there (with the exception by own decision of Novak Djokovic), and there is a lot of quality. But Alcaraz remained solid until breaking the opponent’s resistance in the tiebreak.
With suspense in the tiebreak due to a double fault that caused them to lose the 5-3 lead, they found themselves at 5-6 which they remedied with a serve to the body and a winning forehand. A blunder on a volley put him against a second set point. A deep right to the line, which entered miraculously, saved him. And then he sealed it with a magnificent remainder. Victory, $396,500 more and 200 ranking points.
Alcaraz continues to aspire to the semifinals, Rublev would only be saved by a difficult carom. He will be mathematically out if Ruud beats Zverev in the night session. On Friday, in order still to be made official, clashes Ruud-Rublev y Zverev-Alcaraz.
If Ruud beats Zverev, the Norwegian will already enter the semifinals and leave second place in a direct duel between Alcaraz and Zverev. The German, even by winning tonight, will not be mathematically classified. He will have him close but he will have to take care of the result of his clash against Carlos.
