Carlos Alcaraz move sparks drama at ATP Finals as Alex de Minaur suffers crushing blow
The World No.3 cancelled his practice session after five minutes sparking fears he may have to withdraw from his ATP Finals clash.
Carlos Alcaraz could be set for a surprise early exit from the ATP Finals as the Spaniard continues to fight a losing battle with illness. The World No.3's practice session lasted just five minutes on Tuesday, with the tennis star quickly out of breath and promptly pulled the pin on the session.
It comes after Alcaraz was demolished in straight sets by Casper Ruud on Monday, with the four-time grand slam winner completely out of sorts as he lost 6-1 7-5 in Turin. And following his training session being cut short on Tuesday, coach Juan Carlos Ferrero cast doubt over whether he will even take the court against Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.
"As soon as he moves a bit, he finds it hard to breathe," Ferrero explained. "He has tightness in his chest. It's a bad time to fall ill. We can't predict whether he will play tomorrow or not.
"We've all played under these conditions. I don't think it will get to the point of not playing, but it will be difficult for him to be at 100 per cent tomorrow." And some tennis fans have called for the Spaniard to pull out of the remainder of his ATP Finals campaign to take some time off and recover before the Davis Cup finals.
He should pull out to make room for an alternate. The Davis Cup is coming up soon so it is better to prioritize it if he's not feeling well in Turin.
— Montecinas (@Montecinas) November 12, 2024
Should go home and get healthy for Davis Cup and last dance w Nadal as teamate!
— griglobal 🇧🇬🎾🇺🇸 (@griglobal1) November 12, 2024
Hope he withdraws and rests up. Davis cup next week
— Aussie Nomad (@AB1327) November 12, 2024
He shouldn’t push himself - been a long year ups and downs - just go regroup
— fetketwifhet (@fetketwifhet) November 12, 2024
Alex de Minaur suffers another crushing ATP Finals defeat
Alex de Minaur's ATP Finals debut appears to have come to a brutal end with a match still to play after he was blown away by Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday. The Russian - who lost the plot in his opening round defeat to Taylor Fritz - brushed aside the Aussie No.1 with absolute ease 6-2 6-4 in just 78 minutes.
De Minaur did not play badly, he was simply outmatched and outgunned as the Russian fired on all cylinders, smacking 24 winners and just dropping two points on serve in the second set. The defeat for de Minaur followed his 6-3 6-4 loss to Italian star Jannik Sinner on Monday.
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And after dropping his opening two matches of the ATP Finals, de Minaur will now need to beat Fritz in dominant style in his last round-robin match and also needs Medvedev to lose comprehensively to Sinner, to have any hope of progressing. So barring an improbable run of results de Minaur's focus will soon turn to Australia's Davis Cup challenge in Malaga next week.
The Aussie can still hold his head high after a largely successful 2024 campaign in which he reached the quarter-finals in the last three grand slams, consolidating a top-10 place despite the hip injury suffered at Wimbledon that kept him off the court until the US Open.
Meanwhile, World No.1 Sinner recorded a 6-4 6-4 win over Fritz in Tuesday's late clash - a rematch of the US Open final that the Italian also won in straight sets. Sinner is now a perfect two from two at the ATP Finals and improved to 23-1 in his last five tournaments, making him clearly the player to beat at the end-of-season tournament.
with AAP
