ATP Finals: Casper Ruud stuns Carlos Alcaraz before Alexander Zverev beats Andrey Rublev
In the first set, Luther broke serve twice in a row and took the lead despite his opponent’s many willful serves.
Although Alcaraz continued to struggle to find the court, he had a chance to equalize in the next game, but on break point his forehand sailed wide of the net.
Two more chances followed but Ruud withstood the danger and his determination was rewarded when Alcaraz again went forehand out of bounds for a double break.
Ruud won the first set with an ace, and it was only the second set the 25-year-old had taken from Alcaraz, who made 18 unforced errors in the first set. The hit rate is less than 50%.
But the Spaniard regrouped in the second set, dropping just one point in his first three service games before breaking serve for the first time.
He looked on the verge of leveling the match, but Rudd struck back – a lob to the baseline that earned him two break points, but Alcaraz needed just one when he backhanded into the net.
As Alcaraz’s level continued to slip, a rejuvenated Ruud broke again just two points away from losing the set and sealed the win with an ace on the third match point. A winning streak of five games in a row.
“It sounds like an excuse and I don’t want to take anything away from what Casper did to win the game,” Alcaraz, 21, said.
“Before coming here, I wasn’t feeling well at home. When I arrived in Turin, training was going well; I could cope with long rallies, matches and games. I hope things will get better as time goes on.”
“I don’t know if it was the nerves from the first game, but I didn’t feel good. My stomach restricted my game and made me feel uncomfortable.”
