For the second day in succession, the ATP Finals offered a stark illustration of the absurd demands the overstuffed tennis calendar places on its top performers.
Barely 24 hours after Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the season-ending championships with a back problem, a first meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev brought a painful reminder that the rigours of an 11-month season are not always measured purely in strains, sprains and muscle tears. The burden is mental and emotional, too, and there comes a point when the cumulative effects of week-in, week-out pressure and expectation begin to cast a pall on even the very best.
Rublev, a heart-on-sleeve character in whom the attendant frustrations are often particularly visible, certainly ranks among the best. Against Alcaraz, however, the 26-year-old Russian appeared to reach a tipping point. Suffering from illness and beaten in his opening match in Turin by Daniil Medvedev, his close friend and compatriot, Rublev could no longer simply grit his teeth and plough on after falling behind by a set and a break. Instead, he vented his anger on himself by repeatedly thwacking his racket into his left knee. After six swift blows, blood trickled down Rublev’s knee and his challenge drained away with it, the Muscovite sliding to a 7-5, 6-2 defeat.
It is not the first time Rublev has inflicted such pain on himself, and although the physical damage appeared only skin deep – “It’s OK, nothing happened,” he said afterwards – his mental anguish was clear as he sat with a towel over his head at the final changeover. A semi-finalist in Turin last year, his tournament is over with a match to go this time out.
“It’s not easy because you always want to finish in a good way,” said Rublev, who will face Alexander Zverev on Friday. “Sometimes you get disappointed when it’s not happening. Today, I got disappointed and couldn’t manage.”
Alcaraz too has been struggling to manage as the season limps to a close. He has searched in vain for his best level since losing to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open semi-finals two months ago and, after losing his opener against Zverev on Monday, the Spaniard went into this match on a three-match winless streak, his worst run in more than two and a half years. But while the free-flowing, instinctive play that carried Alcaraz to six titles in the first half of the season has proved elusive, the Wimbledon champion‘s determination to garner something from his debut appearance at the finals was evident.
“Beating Rublev, a great player, it gives you a lot of confidence,” said Alcaraz, who created a platform for victory with a brilliant serving exhibition, dropping just two points on his first delivery, and pounded 19 winners to just two unforced errors.
“Obviously it’s a little bit more special to win after losing in the first match. It was really, really tough for me.
“You could see I’ve been struggling with my level the last few months, few tournaments. Playing this match [with] this quality, at this level, it’s really helpful for me coming into the third one. I’m really happy to show this level and realise that my level is still there, giving myself a chance in this tournament. “
Having secured a maiden victory in Turin, Alcaraz will face Medvedev on Friday with his semi-final hopes still alive after the Russian third seed defeated Zverev 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 in the evening match. Medvedev’s 11th win in 18 meetings with the German came after Zverev botched a backhand volley that would have given him a 5-1 lead in the first-set tiebreak. Worse was to come for the two-time champion, who went on to squander two set points as his forehand deserted him.
“Tight match,” said Medvedev. “I’m happy that I managed to win it, no matter in a way the points and how it went. I felt like lately I could have lost some matches like this, some tiebreaks. I’m happy this time I managed to win it. It’s always great for the confidence.”