IN A SHOCK very few people saw coming, world number seven Casper Ruud took down Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in an unforgettable straight sets victory at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. Ruud stormed to a 6-1 lead after one set, then despite the Spaniard’s best efforts, closed out the match in 86 minutes, 6-1 7-5 to give himself a huge chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

The win marked Ruud’s first ever top three victory on a hardcourt, with the claycourt talent also beating Alcaraz for the first time after losing in their four previous encounters. In the match, Ruud served five aces to four and won 68 and 58 per cent of his first and second serve points in the victory.

“It’s only one match, but it’s definitely one of the best wins of the season for me,” Ruud said post-match. “In terms of who I’m playing, his level, his ranking and all this stuff. I feel very happy of course. I think we will see Carlos play better tennis than he did today, but I took care of my chances.

“I have not been [full of] confidence in the past weeks or months, so it was a great win for me and hopefully I can build on it, and I would like to get some more wins while I am in Turin.”

Ruud is no stranger to providing a surprise at the end of year invite-only championships. In the Norwegian’s only other previous ATP Finals experience, the then third seeded Ruud made it all the way to the final where he went down to Novak Djokovic.

In that tournament, Ruud defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev, the latter of whom awaits him in the group stage of the 2024 edition. Ruud will also face fellow winner and second seed Alexander Zverev next to essentially determine the first semi-finalist through to the knockout stages.

The Norwegian was in trouble during the second set when he trailed 2-5, but used all of his grit and determination to win the last five games of the match. The eventual winner admitted he could tell Alcaraz was not 100 per cent.

“It can be a bit tricky,” Ruud said. “I knew he was dealing with a bit of a cold. I saw him sniffling in the back area and with a tissue for his nose, so that’s a sign that maybe physically he won’t be necessarily at 100 per cent. Of course, that is sad, and not good for him, but at the same time it is part of the game.

“I knew it coming in. I tried to make him play rallies and do my best, but it’s not easy because when you kind of know that someone is not 100 per cent, maybe you get stressed yourself. You think, ‘This is a really big chance for me to maybe try to win’. So I just tried to stay in my world, the moment, and luckily I got a good start. I got a break early and kept it, and in the second set I was able to turn it around with some good tennis at the end.”

In the other match, Zverev proved too strong for Rublev as he campaigned to win his third ATP Finals title. There is an ominous pattern of sorts for the German who won in 2018 and then three years later in 2021. Now three more years have passed, and the second seeded hope kicked off on the perfect note with his Tour-leading 67th win this year.

Zverev won 6-4 6-4 to dismiss the Russian and move a step closer to the knockout stage of the tournament in Turin.

“I thought it was a very solid match from my end,” said Zverev, who improved to 15-9 at the Nitto ATP Finals. “Against anyone here, you have to play your best to have a chance, you have to be solid [and] mentally strong. I feel like I did that today, I felt like I used my chances quite well and I’m obviously happy with this win.”