Carlos Alcaraz overcomes illness and Andrey Rublev to revive ATP Finals hopes

Alcaraz has been suffering with respiratory issues and wore pink nasal tape during his straight sets win

Martyn Herman
Wednesday 13 November 2024 17:51 GMT
Comments
Carlos Alcaraz wore pink nasal tape as he battles an illness at the ATP Finals
Carlos Alcaraz wore pink nasal tape as he battles an illness at the ATP Finals (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz made light of feeling under the weather as he dispatched Russia’s Andrey Rublev in impressive fashion to revive his ATP Finals hopes.

The Spanish four-times grand slam champion has been suffering with respiratory issues in Turin and wore pink nasal tape against Rublev in a resounding 6-3 7-6(8) victory.

Third seed Alcaraz, bidding to win the title for the first time, looked far sharper than during his opening group match which ended in a straight-sets defeat by Norway’s Casper Ruud.

“I did surprise myself,” Alcaraz, who had to abandon a practice session on Tuesday, said on court. “I just tried to focus on my game and what I had to do and not that I wasn’t feeling well. Once you step on court you have to forget that.

“I felt good from the baseline running and felt I had more options today.”

After sharing the opening six games, Alcaraz broke Rublev’s serve with a scorching forehand winner and reeled off five successive games to seize control of the match.

Carlos Alcaraz beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets
Carlos Alcaraz beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets (Getty Images)

World No 8 Rublev, who also lost his opening match to Alexander Zverev, managed to stay with Alcaraz in the second set and could have earned a couple of break points at 2-2 had he not missed a routine ball after chasing a drop shot.

Both players served well to take the match into a high-octane tiebreak in which Alcaraz forged ahead but had to fend off two set points before sealing victory.

Rublev has now lost six successive matches at the ATP Finals in straight sets since reaching the semi-finals in 2022.

Alcaraz is still likely to need to beat world number two Zverev in his last group match on Friday to qualify.

Zverev will face Ruud later on Wednesday with both players seeking their second win. Should Ruud win, he would guarantee himself a semi-final berth while Rublev would be eliminated.

None of the seven singles matches this week have gone to three sets.

Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in