Carlos Alcaraz Beaten By Casper Ruud In His Opening Match At The ATP Finals

Carlos Alcaraz looked little like player who won two Grand Slams this year in a 6-1, 7-5 loss to Casper Ruud at ATP Finals on Monday.

It marked Ruud’s first victory over Alcaraz in five career meetings and result could make it difficult for Alcaraz to vance from round-robin st at season-ending event for year’s top eight players.

Alcaraz won French Open and Wimbledon this year to boost his career total to four Grand Slam titles. But he also struggled at Paris Masters recently and dropped behind Alexander Zverev to . 3 in rankings this week.

Ruud reached semifinals and final in his first two appearances at season-ending tournament in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Alcaraz was broken when he served for second set at 5-4.

Later in Alcaraz's and Ruud's group, Zverev plays Andrey Rublev.

top two finishers from each group vance to semifinals.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner and U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz beat Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev, respectively, in or group on Sunday.