Carlos Alcaraz reveals he ‘didn’t feel well’ in surprise ATP Finals defeat
Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that he has been feeling unwell, after losing his first ATP Finals round-robin match to Casper Ruud.
Alcaraz was beaten in straight sets by Ruud, 6-1 7-5, in his first ever defeat to the Norwegian in five meetings.
It was clear that something was off with the Spaniard during his first match at the ATP Finals, and in his post-match press conference Alcaraz explained what was up with him, while not wanting to make any excuses.
“A few days before coming here I got sick at home” revealed Alcaraz. “The days I was practicing here, I was feeling okay. Not good, but okay. I could play. I felt that I could get into the rallies in practice. But obviously, in the matches it is totally different.
“Today I didn’t feel well. This morning I felt uncomfortable in my stomach. After long rallies today, I didn’t feel well. I don’t want to [admit it], because I don’t want it to sound like an excuse, but if I feel bad, I feel bad. That is what happened today.”
Alcaraz has now lost back-to-back matches, following his early exit at the Paris Masters, and the 21-year-old has declared that he is ‘tired mentally’ at this late stage in the season.
“I dare to say that every player is tired mentally. If someone says that he is fresh, he is lying,” claimed Alcaraz. “Some players deal with it better than others. I’m tired. I’m tired mentally. Obviously a lot of matches, really tight schedule, really demanding year with not too many days off, not too many period where you could rest.
“It’s kind of you finish one week or you finish a swing, you only have two or three days off and then you have to go to other tournaments to other part of the world.”
The World No.3 added, “Since the beginning of the year you’re accumulating hours, days. You come into this part of the year tired. As I said many, many times, I think this year I’m much better than last year, but I have to find the way to perform and deliver good tennis when being tired mentally.”
Congratulations @CasperRuud98 on this afternoon’s victory! 🤝🏻 Now it’s time to focus on Wednesday and look to improve! 💪🏻
📸 @atptour pic.twitter.com/2Eyo4rSeJk
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) November 11, 2024
Alcaraz is now up against it to advance to the ATP Finals semi-finals, with his next match against Andrey Rublev tomorrow in Turin.
The Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion will then finish his 2024 season at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where Rafael Nadal will be retiring.
Inside the baseline…
It was clear that Carlos Alcaraz was not feeling himself yesterday, and he genuinely did not appear to be making excuses, but was just answering questions from the media who could see that he was not feeling himself. With Alexander Zverev also in this group with Alcaraz, it may be a difficult task for the Spaniard to make it out the group, especially if he is still not feeling well by the time of his next matches.
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