Ailing Carlos Alcaraz overcomes Andrey Rublev at ATP Finals, stays in semifinal contention

Carlos Alcaraz kept hopes of reaching a second consecutive Nitto ATP Finals semifinal alive on Wednesday, overcoming illness and Andrey Rublev, 6-3, 7-6 (8) to score his first win of the week and improve to 1-1 in the John Newcombe Group.

"I surprised myself a lot, the way I played today from the baseline, with my serve," Alcaraz said on court. "I was really calm. I just tried to be focused on my game and what I had to do and forget that I'm not feeling well, that I'm sick, and other stuff.

"Once you step on the court you have to forget everything you're struggling with outside the court and try to put your focus on hitting a good forehand or a good backhand. Obviously, you have to make a good tactic against the opponent, and I think I did that pretty well, so I did surprise myself!"

Playing with a hot pink sinus strip across his nose, the former world No. 1 shook off reported chest tightness and breathing issues—both of which contributed to a straight-set loss to Casper Ruud on Monday—and showed signs of being on the mend against Rublev, defeating the No. 8 seed in one hour and 35 minutes on Center Court.

Rublev falls to 0-2 in round-robin play and is dangerously close to elimination from semifinal contention. Ruud, who is seeded sixth in Turin, could qualify for the semis by defeating No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev in the second match of the day. Should Ruud win, Rublev would be eliminated from contention and Alcaraz would play Zverev for the second spot; a Zverev win would throw semifinal qualification to the final rotation of round-robin matches on Friday.

Alcaraz and Rublev split their two previous meetings coming into their Wednesday encounter, with Rublev rallying from a set down to shock the Spaniard on his home court at the Mutua Madrid Open in May. Though Rublev went onto win the title at the Caja Magica, much of the 2024 season has been one to forget for the former world No. 5, who lost before the quarterfinals at three of the four Grand Slam tournaments and suffered a default for unsportsmanlike conduct at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February.

Alcaraz, by contrast, has enjoyed much higher highs despite trailing Zverev and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the ATP rankings, winning back-to-back major titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and earning his first Olympic medal in Paris (silver, l. Novak Djokovic). Since winning a third-set tiebreaker over Sinner to win the China Open title in October, Alcaraz has been decidedly below his best at subsequent Masters 1000 outings, losing in the quarterfinals and Round of 16 in Shanghai and Paris, respectively.And now, illness threatened to derail his ATP Finals campaign when he looked visibly out of sorts against Ruud, winning just one game in the opening set.

"In the last match, I couldn't hit any good drop shots, and I was thinking, 'What's going on?' My style and my game is about playing this kinds of shots that help me enjoy the game," Alcaraz said.

But the 21-year-old soldiered on and found his rhythm early against Rublev, holding serve and pressuring Rublev on return. Rublev, who lost his first match to Zverev in straight sets on Monday, blinked in the seventh game, and Alcaraz rode the momentum to a second break that clinched the opening set.

After a clean set that saw Alcaraz strike 10 winners to just five unforced errors, the second set proved much closer as both men traded efficient service holds through the first 10 games. Though Rublev forced a 5-5 score in 74 seconds flat, the frustration for which he has become infamous started to bubble up as Alcaraz matched his efforts to keep him on the back foot.

"I felt pretty good from the baseline, running," said Alcaraz. "I had many options in my mind where, if I didn't feel well moving or running, I had options, but I'm happy Option A with running and playing good points from the baseline happened today."

Rublev quieted the inner noise long enough to push the set to a tiebreaker, where Alcaraz opened with a strong forehand and jamming return that helped him nab the first mini-break. Up 4-2 at the Sudden Death's first change of ends, Alcaraz showed off his inimitable defense-to-offense capabilities to put himself two points from victory but an ill-timed double fault left the door open for Rublev.

Alcaraz saved set point with an inside-in forehand winner, and Rublev saved a match point with a strong serve two points later. A brutal net miss from Alcaraz gave Rublev another look at set point, but Rublev couldn't convert and found himself down a second match point. This time Alcaraz made no mistake on the return, putting a forehand deep into the corner to bring himself over the finish line and remain in the hunt for his first title in Turin.