Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev find themselves in borderline must-win situations as they prepare to face each other in Red Group round-robin competition at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday afternoon.
Both players are 0-1 following losses on Monday. Alcaraz went down to Alexander Zverev 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, while Rublev fell to Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-2.
Although Alcaraz is the top seed in this quartet, his setback against Zverev was hardly a surprise. The second-ranked Spaniard had never played a match at the year-end championship and he went into his debut appearance in mediocre form. Alcaraz hasn’t won a title since Wimbledon and his fall swing includes a Beijing semifinal exit at the hands of Jannik Sinner, a Shanghai fourth-round loss to Grigor Dimitrov, a withdrawal from Basel due to foot and back issues, and an immediate loss in Paris to Roman Safiullin.
Rublev’s opening loss was more lopsided than that of Alcaraz, but his level play was arguable better. Medvedev simply delivered an awesome performance in that showdown between the two Russians. There is no reason to think that Rublev will stay down for long. The world No. 5’s three most recent results are a runner-up showing at the Shanghai Masters, a semifinal finish in Vienna, and a semifinal performance at the Paris Masters.
Alcaraz seems to be wearing out down the stretch run of the season, which is nothing new for him in the early stages of his career. Rublev, on the other hand, advanced to the Turin semis last year with victories over Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas and had plenty of momentum behind him prior to Monday’s loss. He should be able to regain it.
All things considered, a Rublev victory would not even be a particularly big upset.
Pick: Rublev in 3
WWW?
I think Rublec as well. Alcarez was making really poor shot selection decisions in the match I saw. Interspersed with some magic, of course.
oops
I’m predicting a Carlos rebound…in 2.
nice call
Rublev not playing anywhere near as well as in Paris. Seems tense.
Apparently because the Cart Horse isn’t in great nick they are flying in Norrie as an alternate. Why Norrie?! He is # 18 in the rankings?!
Meanwhile Novak has a potentially very tough match With Hubi after Sinner and Rune have easy points against Tsitsi. Potentially not great for him.
Novak’s had back to back really tough 3 setters. Now he gets Hubi with his killer serve. Not a done deal for him as it would have been with Tsitsi.
because players 10-17 are all in the Maldives and declined the invitation lol
I did wonder if that was the case!!
That was a really horrible match for Rublev. Apparently he isn’t well according to Tim. Was very lacking in energy. But he is a victim of his own extreme emotional reactions…
Carlos clearly getting used to the conditions and played heaps better than two days ago. But felt so sorry for Andrey, had a horrible virus, looked even more like a ghost than usual, and all that self mutilation, yuck! Reminded me of when a young Andy used to do it.
Yes it was very tough to watch. Apparently he was ill when he played Med which means it was something of a miracle how well he played in the first set.
Seems like nice guys are prone to self mutilation…
I had Rublev +4.5. Quite shocked that went awry, could of swore he would have cleared that large of a handicap, but just have to take that on the chin I suppose.
good bet by you, poor execution by Rublev