Carlos Alcaraz provides health update after struggles in shock ATP Finals loss
Carlos Alcaraz has shed light on his physical condition after struggling badly in his defeat to Casper Ruud at the 2024 ATP Finals.
The four-time Grand Slam winner admitted he felt “bad” after the match and revealed he had been sick since before he arrived in Turin.
Alcaraz was beaten 6-1, 7-5 by world No 7 Ruud in his opening round robin match at the year-end championships.
The 21-year-old was broken twice in each set and lost five games in a row after leading 5-2 in the second set.
The Spaniard had won all four of his previous encounters with the 25-year-old Norwegian for the loss of a single set.
Ruud arrived at the ATP Finals having lost seven of his previous eight matches, while he has not won back-to-back matches since reaching the last 16 of the US Open.
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In his post-match press conference, Alcaraz credited Ruud for his performance while admitting he was not feeling his best.
“Obviously, I could be better on court. I didn’t feel well on court. Doesn’t matter the times I beat Casper. But Casper is really uncomfortable player to play with,” he said.
“Yeah, I think he did a really good work today. But I talk about myself, I could just be better. I could play better. Obviously I could feel better on court, as well.”
The world No 3 elaborated on his physical state and highlighted his struggles in long rallies during the match.
“Well, a few days before coming here, I got sick at home. And yeah, the days that I was practising here, I was feeling okay. Not pretty good, but okay,” Alcaraz explained.
“I could play. I could feel that I can get into the rallies in the practice. Obviously, in the matches is totally different. But today, I didn’t feel well.
“In this morning, I feel uncomfortable in the stomach. After long rallies today, I couldn’t feel well. I don’t want to, you know, say because I don’t want to sound like an excuse. But if I feel bad, I feel bad. It is what happened today.”
Alcaraz will face Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev in his two remaining fixtures in the John Newcombe Group. Zverev and Rublev will face off in the second match in the group on Monday night.
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