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Carlos Alcaraz managed to beat Andrey Rublev in two sets, on the Day 4 of the ATP Finals in Turin, after the defeat against Alexander Zverev on the 1st day of his group. And precisely the defeat against the German led the young Spaniard to share an incredible negative record with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
The comeback suffered against Zverev cast some doubts on the physical and mental resilience shown by Carlitos, who didn't shows no signs of improving after his triumph at Wimbledon. Today's victory against Rublev gave further awareness to the young player, still looking to qualify for the semifinals of the year-end Masters.
The Spaniard failed the goal of finishing the season as world number one, succumbing to Novak Djokovic. In the next round, the Spaniard will meet Daniil Medvedev, in what will be the decisive match for qualifying for the semifinals.
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Carlitos shares a particular and curious fact with Rafael Nadal and Djokovic: all three lost their first career match at the ATP Finals at the age of 20. At the time, Nadal managed to reach the semifinals.
When Djokovic played his first year-end Masters, he didn't win a single match in his group. But as we have seen, a lot of time has passed!
2006 - Nadal, 20, loses in ATP Finals debut
2007 - Djokovic, 20, loses in ATP Finals debut
2023 - Alcaraz, 20, loses in ATP Finals debut
Normal rite of passage in an unforgiving event — Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) November 13, 2023
And Alcaraz congrats to Djokovic's goal
Going back to talking about Alcaraz, the Spanish champion, in the press conference, complimented Djokovic for having ended 2023 as no.1 of the ATP ranking: "He definitely deserves to end the season as number 1.
He won three Grand Slam tournaments and reached the final in the fourth. He's won two or three Masters 1000s. I think he's only lost five games so far, it's incredible. I heard him say it wasn't the best year of his career! Novak is truly incredible.
I fought for the top of the rankings. I had some opportunities in the last tournaments I participated in, but I didn't take my opportunities. I can only congratulate him, it's the eighth time he's finished as number one. I will fight for this goal next year."