ATP Finals: Casper Ruud stuns 'unwell' Carlos Alcaraz with straight-sets victory in Turin

Casper Ruud was at his all-around best to recover from his recent blip and dismiss Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets at the ATP Finals in Turin on Monday. Ruud marked his maiden victory over Alcaraz with a resilient performance, downing the world No. 3 6-1 in the opening set before coming from 5-2 behind in the second to secure victory. Alcaraz later admitted he felt unwell during the encounter.

Ruud shocks Alcaraz in ATP Finals opener

Video credit: SNTV

Casper Ruud described his 6-1 7-5 victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Monday as "one of the best wins of the season", as the Norwegian opened his ATP Finals account with a dominant display in Turin.

Ruud - who had suffered four consecutive defeats ahead of his meeting with Alcaraz in the season's final event - dispatched the world No. 3 in impressive style with a dominant opening set, before staving off a fightback to come from 5-2 down and secure the second set.

"It’s only one match but it’s definitely one of the best wins of the season for me, in terms of who I’m playing, his level, his ranking and all this stuff," Ruud said.

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"I feel very happy of course. I think we’ve all seen Carlos play better tennis than he did today.

"But I took care of my chances, I’m not boosted with confidence in the last weeks and months so it was a great win for me. Hopefully I can build on it and would like to get some more wins while I’m in Turin."

Ruud felt he took advantage of Alcaraz being under the weather.

"I knew he was dealing with a bit of a cold," Ruud said. "I’ve seen him sniffling around and always with a tissue. That’s a sign physically he won’t be necessarily at 100%. That’s sad and not good for him but at the same time a part of the game.

Alcaraz reveals illness ahead of ATP Finals after losing opener to Ruud

Video credit: TNT Sports

"I knew it coming in, I tried to make him play rallies and do my best but it’s not easy because when you know someone is not 100% maybe you get stressed yourself and thinking this is a really big chance for me to win. I tried to stay in my world."

Ruud showed good mettle in a 10-minute opening game to see off two break points for a hold, and things got even better for the Norwegian when he broke for a 3-1 lead.

Alcaraz immediately pushed for a response, again testing Ruud’s nerve in an epic 14-minute game, but the world No. 7 stayed strong as he saved three break points to consolidate his lead.

The Spaniard’s first-set resistance crumbled from then on as he dropped another service game in the space of three minutes before Ruud wrapped up a rampant 35-minute opener with an ace in a statement start.

Both players were determined to tighten things up in the second set, with three love holds in the first five games and no break points appearing until game six.

Then, Alcaraz brought the Turin crowd to its feet with a delightful pick-up shot at the net to claim his first break of the match and take control of set two.

Alcaraz looked to be forcing the match into a three-set showdown, with just two points separating himself and parity in the match, but Ruud had other ideas - running home a hold and break - capitalising on some stray Alcaraz strikes to close the gap to 5-4.

Ruud completed the comeback from three games down against the increasingly despondent-looking Alcaraz, holding to love and forcing the set to its 11th game.

And he capped off the remarkable turnaround, breaking Alcaraz once again and running home a subsequent hold to clinch his fifth consecutive game - breaking the Spaniard's resistance on his third match point for his maiden victory against the four-time Grand Slam winner.

Alcaraz will be looking for a response in the curtain-dropping event with clashes against Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev to come.

Alcaraz admits he 'didn't feel well'

In his press conference, Alcaraz admitted he had felt "unwell" a few days before arriving in Turin.

"A few days before coming here I got sick at home", Alcaraz said. "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."

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