Carlos Alcaraz made the court talk about his physical condition. Wearing a plaster on his nose to breathe better, the 4-time Grand Slam champion beat Andrey Rublev to comeback in the running to qualify for the semifinals, in the John Newcombe Group of the ATP Finals 2024. The disappointing performance against Casper Ruud in his first match andthe less than optimal conditions due to the flu (and the cancelled training yesterday afternoon) had alarmed the Spaniard's fans, worried about his precarious physical condition.
The road to the semifinals is still long, considering that his next rival will be Alexander Zverev, but the victory in straight sets for 6-3, 7-6(8) with which Carlitos beat the Russian can be a (re)starting point in his campaign at the year-end Masters.
Alcaraz had an important service game at the beginning of the match, and put pressure on his opponent. Rublev saved himself on a first occasion at 2-2 by coming back from 15-40, but he lost his serve in his next service game: the Spaniard responded admirably and buried his opponent with an exceptional forehand. After recovering from 0-30, the Spaniard then signed another break, with Rublev guilty of having missed a forehand on set point.
The second set was very balanced, especially with the serve: so much so that its natural epilogue was the tie-break. Alcaraz prevailed 10-8, despite some too many uncertainties due to his precarious physical conditions.
At the on-court interview, Carlitos underlined how, once you are on the court, you have to forget everything that happens off the court, also taking stock of the situation on his physical conditions, with the respiratory problems that have tormented him in the last week.
"Once you step on the court you have to forget about everything you're struggling with off the court. You try to focus on hitting good forehands and backhands. You have to do some good tactics. I think I did pretty well. I surprised myself. I surprised myself with how I played from the baseline and with my serve. I've been struggling with my health the last week. Today I thought I was going to feel better. I felt good enough to play, but I'm thinking about how in the first match I was thinking a lot about how I was sick and couldn't play. I was very calm. I tried to focus on my game and forget about not feeling well, that I was sick, all that stuff. Today I really wanted to step on the court and just show good tennis and play at a high level. Try to entertain people to make them happy. When I walked off the court from the first match, I felt like I didn't entertain people or play good tennis. I tried to do that today and I think I played really good tennis," he explained.
