Carlos Alcaraz skilled a sluggish debut on the ATP Finals on Monday, succumbing to a 6-7(3) 6-3 6-4 defeat in opposition to Alexander Zverev and lengthening his end-of-year hunch with a 3rd consecutive loss.
The 20-year-old world No. 2, who missed final 12 months’s version of the season-ending championship resulting from damage, blamed for his loss squarely on the quick indoor floor on the cavernous Pala Alpitour in Turin.
“I don’t know why they put this surface at the end of the year,” the Spaniard mentioned in his post-match news convention.
“All the tournaments we now have performed on onerous courtroom are so, so, gradual after which we come right here to the Masters (Cup), and so they put this courtroom so quick.
“I don’t understand why they’ve set the speed so high for this tournament when we have never played on a surface like this all year.”
Alcaraz is trying to develop into the youngest ATP Finals champion since Pete Sampras in 1991 and, regardless of the loss, nonetheless has an opportunity to advance to the knockout levels from the round-robin Red Group.
“This tournament is different for many things, and one of them is that it allows you to go through to the semi-finals despite losing the first match,” Alcaraz posted on Instagram.
The Spaniard’s subsequent match is on Wednesday in opposition to Andrey Rublev, who went down 6-4, 6-2 to Daniil Medvedev in his Red Group opener on Monday.
The Russian duo had been anticipated to duke it out in one other epic showdown after assembly within the Dubai Open’s remaining and the U.S. Open’s quarterfinals earlier this 12 months.
Fifth-ranked Rublev, nonetheless, fell aside after shedding the primary set and failed to withstand as Medvedev eased to a 7-2 profession report in matches in opposition to his compatriot.
“I felt really good and was able to get the upper hand fast,” Medvedev mentioned.
“I like to play aggressive on my serve, but Rublev plays in such a style that he doesn’t give me any other option because I don’t have the power of Alcaraz or (Stefanos) Tsitsipas on my forehand.”
The motion continues on Tuesday, with Tsitsipas taking over Holger Rune and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic going through Jannik Sinner.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
