The prestigious Nitto ATP Finals is off to a scintillating start. Spanish tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz made his debut at the year-end championship at last. However, it was not the dream start he was hoping for, as Alexander Zverev defeated him in the opening round.
Alcaraz is easily one of the most exciting young talents. He has proved his mettle by winning two Grand Slams already, so early on in his career. Carlos announced himself as one of the best when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final earlier this year. The Spaniard has since lost his rhythm a little bit.
Alcaraz took on Zverev in the first-round encounter. Zverev, who has already won the championship twice, defeated Alcaraz 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4. With this defeat, Alcaraz has now lost three consecutive matches for the first time since 2021.
Carlos Alcaraz loses three consecutive matches for the first time since 2021 (Grand Canaria CH, Acapulco, Miami).
First time he loses three consecutive matches at ATP MD level.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 13, 2023
This is quite easily the worst losing streak of Alcaraz’s career, and he has come under fire for it. He crashed out of the Shanghai Masters when he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16. The young Spaniard then faced a humiliating first-round loss to Roman Safiulin at the Paris Masters. And now, Zverev got the better of him in Turin.
However, there is still hope for Carlos to make it to the semifinals. He will need to bring out his best against Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev. Carlos is still certain he can make it to the next round, as he congratulated Zverev.
Congratulations to @AlexZverev for the win! 🤝🏻 This tournament is different in many ways, and one of them is that it allows you to reach the semis despite losing the first match! We will give our all on Wednesday! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/meGdZMKehV
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) November 13, 2023
Zverev, who has been embroiled in a new domestic abuse case, has not let his performance be affected. Following his victory, he added that he was very happy to be back among the top eight players.
“I’m not that bad, I’ve beaten good players before.”@AlexZverev 🇩🇪 on his win against Carlos Alcaraz in their first match of the 2023 ATP Finals (🎥: ATP Media) pic.twitter.com/ZhOajl4NXU
— TennisONE App (@TennisONEApp) November 13, 2023
While Zverev has a lot of reasons to be happy, Carlos Alcaraz must be itching to return to winning ways. And to fight Novak for the top spot.
Carlos Alcaraz praises Novak Djokovic
Alcaraz has been open about wanting to finish the season as the top-ranked player. He had Novak in his sights, but Djokovic dashed his hopes when he defeated Holger Rune. While Alcaraz rued his missed chances, he added that Djokovic deserved to be the world number one.
Carlos Alcaraz says Novak Djokovic deserves to be the world #1:
“He deserves it, of course. He has won three of the four Grand Slams & has reached the final of the other. You have won two or three Masters 1000s. He deserves it. He’s only lost five matches in the whole year, it’s… pic.twitter.com/X94wdlG4qa
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) November 13, 2023
The Serb has been in phenomenal form all year. Djokovic made it to the finals of all four Grand Slams, winning three of them. Alcaraz had only positive words for Novak, who is on the hunt for a record seventh ATP Finals title.
Carlos slammed the ATP Finals surface
The Wimbledon champion made his debut at the ATP Finals this year. Unfortunately, his debut did not go as planned. Carlos also slammed the organizers for preparing a fast court—the fastest surface he has played on this year.
“This is the fastest surface of the year. All other tournaments played on hard courts did not have these conditions, and the courts were much slower. I don’t understand why they made this choice,” he said during the press conference (via Tennis World USA).
Carlos Alcaraz’s hopes of making it to the semifinals are still alive, though. He will, however, need to win both of his matches. Carlos will play against Rublev in the next round.