Carlos Alcaraz facing shocking rankings fall after ATP Finals defeat

Carlos Alcaraz started his ATP Finals campaign in the worst manner possible and now he could face a miserable end-of-season rankings blow.

The 20-year-old missed last year’s event through injury and his shaky late-season form continued with a 6-7 (3) 6-3 6-4 loss in his opening round-robin match.

Alcaraz came from a break down to win the first set on a tie-break, but immediately fell behind in the second and it was Zverev who was the steadier from there on in a contest that featured some spectacular shots from both players.

The loss was a third in a row for Alcaraz, who was beaten by Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters before a shock defeat to Roman Safiullin in his first match at the Paris Masters.

Zverev, a two-time former champion at the event, has surged back into form over the second half of the season following the ankle injury at the French Open last year that ruled him out for seven months.

He suffered a worrying moment in the third set when he went over on his ankle, but he played down any concerns afterwards.

“It’s always nice to beat the best players in the world and he’s definitely one of them. It’s special to win on this court again,” said Zverev.

Congratulations to @AlexZverev for the win! 🤝🏻 This tournament is different in many ways, and one of them is that it allows you to reach the semis despite losing the first match! We will give our all on Wednesday! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/meGdZMKehV

— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) November 13, 2023

Alcaraz will now face Andrey Rublev on Wednesday needing to win to keep his hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive.

Now it has emerged he could also face a disappointing rankings blow, as he could finish the year as as the third-ranked player in the world.

Zverev will next take on Daniil Medvedev, who started his campaign with a routine 6-4 6-2 victory over Andrey Rublev.

Medvedev lost to Rublev at the same stage 12 months ago but gained revenge against his fellow Russian, who committed several unforced errors to drop serve in the seventh game of the first set.

Medvedev resisted an onslaught from his opponent, saving seven break points in his next two service games, to forge a one-set lead.

Rublev, who takes on Alcaraz next, dropped serve at the beginning of the second set while Medvedev secured another break en route to wrapping up victory in 91 minutes.

Medvedev’s win opened the door for him to finish the season as world No 2, with his win in the ATP Finals giving him a chance to knock Alcaraz off his current perch in the ATP rankings.

The young Spaniard was chasing Novak Djokovic for the year-end world No 1 ranking a few weeks ago, but his slump in form allowed the Serbian to wrap up that title with something to spare.

Now Alcaraz could lose the No 2 ranking, with in-form Medvedev eyeing up a chance to finish the year as the second best player in the world.

He would need to win the ATP Finals to reach that goal, but his impressive performance beating Rublev confirmed he was a strong contender to win the title for a second time.

Medvedev has long been regarded as one of the best players in the world on a fast surface and according to Alcaraz, the court in Turin is the fastest of the year so far.

READ MORE: Why ‘unhappy’ Carlos Alcaraz will step into the unknown to save his ATP Finals hopes

“I don’t know why they put this kind of surface at the end of the year because all the tournaments that we have played on hard court is so, so slow,” said Alcaraz.

“Then we come here to the (ATP Finals) and they put this court, so fast. I don’t know why.”

Alcaraz went in to paint an upbeat picture of his hopes of qualifying, as he looked to the round-robin format to give him a route to success.

“It’s the only tournament where a loss does not knock you out,” continued Alcaraz.

“I still have a chance to continue improving and to get through the group stage.

“Tomorrow I’ll practise to improve everything that I didn’t do well (against Zverev), which is a lot.

“Even though the court is very fast, I need to be more consistent. At the end of the second set and the start of the third, I hit three or four shots out straight away.

“That can’t happen, although everyone has their own style. I watch Novak, for example, and he doesn’t give anything away straight away. My consistency was really lacking against Zverev.”

Medvedev’s hopes of winning the ATP Finals will be boosted by Alcaraz’s assessment of the court in Turin and it may give him a chance to end the year as the world No 2.