Carlos Alcaraz has no intention of leaving the ATP Finals. The young Spanish champion defeated by Casper Ruud in his debut also due to a flu virus played an excellent match against Andrey Rublev yesterday and kept his chances of reaching the semifinals alive. The 4-time Grand Slam champion is feeling better and a further clue came through his practice session this morning.
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The current world number 3 practiced for a full hour without using the nose band, a sign that his health condition is improving as the days go by.
Carlitoswill face Zverev
Having lost the first match in two sets, it will not be easy for Carlitos to qualify for the semifinals scheduled for Saturday. The 21-year-old from Murcia will have to defeat Alexander Zverev, the most dangerousplayer of the moment together with Jannik Sinner. The German champion is playing really well at this stage of the season, he defeated Rublev and Ruud in two sets and is very dangerous on this surface. At the same time, Sascha is almost certain to qualify for the semifinals and will only need him to win a set tomorrow to gain mathematical confidence. Alcaraz - on the other hand - will not be able to make calculations.
Although he wasn't at his best against Rublev either, Carlitos had a much more positive attitude than in his first match and his level was superior in all aspects.
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"As I said, it shouldn't be an excuse. You have to play your best tennis, even if you're sick. That's happen today for me," Alcaraz said in his press conference. "I tried to forget about I'm not feeling well, I'm sick, and deliver a really good tennis. That's what good tennis or top players do it, even if you're not feeling good he added.
The Spaniard has an amazing 12-4 record against Top 10 players.
Thats good to know for my confidence to go up a little bit he said with a smile. Well, just focus on playing a good tennis, deliver a good tennis. Obviously playing against the top players, you think to yourself that you have to play at your best tennis. If not, you are going to lose against them. That help a lot.
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Before that matches, before matches against top players, realise what kind of game, what kind of shots you are going to play or youre going to hit. I think thats it. In tennis, really important the mental game, the way you talk to yourself before the matches. When Im going to play against a top player, Im going to repeat myself that Im better, Im going to play my best, my 100% just to beat them the World No.3 concluded.
The Spanish champion's game is still not effective enough in indoor conditions, as his recent results show. Alcaraz likes to have more time to use his variations during rallies and his serve is still not as decisive as it should be. In the last edition of the ATP Finals Carlitos lost the first match but qualified for the semifinals. However, the situation was very different in 2023. The 4-time Grand Slam champion had won a set on his debut, while this year he lost by two sets to love.
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Positive signs
Alcaraz's performance against Rublev bodes well for the continuation of the Spaniard's tournament. The former world No. 1 looked more focused and showed the right determination to continue his run in this tournament.
During the press conference, Rublev analyzed Carlitos' level: Out of all the matches we played each other, he played the best level today. Even if we take our match last year and our match in Madrid, he played the best level today. Even with the serve he goes a lot mixing with spin but today he was going full serve flat and making a high percentage of the first serve.
One of Alcaraz's goals in this last part of the season was to return to world number 2, but the situation became complicated due to his health condition. If he remains number 3 in the world until the 2025 Australian Open, the 21-year-old from Murcia risks having to face his great rival Sinner already in the semifinals.
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While their rivalry is already amazing, and they've played some incredible matches, it's strange that these two young champions have never faced each other in a Major final or in a Masters 1000 final. Carlos has won all three matches played with Jannik this year, but the Italian has had impressive regularity in 2024 that has made the difference in the ATP ranking.
