Carlos Alcaraz questions the speed of the ATP Finals 2023 courts after losing against Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev defeated Carlos Alcaraz 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in his first match of the 2023 ATP Finals.

Carlos Alcaraz questions the speed of the ATP Finals 2023 courts after losing against Alexander Zverev

Carlos Alcaraz (Source: Daily Express)

Carlos Alcaraz suffered yet another disappointing defeat as he lost to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the first match of the 2023 ATP Finals. With this defeat, he extended his rough patch in major tournaments, and it was his third consecutive defeat. It is the first time since March 2021 that the Spaniard has lost three matches in a row and it shows that he really is going through a patch of bad form. 

After his defeat against Zverev, Alcaraz questioned the court of the ATP Finals, claiming that it is much faster than the hard courts that were used in the previous tournaments. He also questioned why the ATP decided to make this change after using slow courts throughout the year. 

YouTube video
This is the quickest court of the year. Incredible that this happens after so many tournaments playing on very slow hardcourts. I don’t understand why this happens. We never play in conditions like these during the entire year. 

Recently, the WTA also had to face a lot of criticism for the poor courts in the WTA Finals that were held in Cancun where almost all the players protested about the same issue. Alcaraz has been the first player to point out this problem in the ATP Finals and it will be interesting to note if any other player chooses to do the same. 

FS Video

Carlos Alcaraz will face Andrey Rublev in his next match 

Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, and Alexander Zverev have been placed in the Red Group of the 2023 ATP Finals. After his loss against Zverev, Alcaraz will be facing Andrey Rublev in his next match, who also comes from losing his first match against Medvedev. The loser of this match will practically be out of the equation for qualifying for the semifinals. 

Andrey Rublev (L), Carlos Alcaraz (R)
Andrey Rublev (L), Carlos Alcaraz (R) (Sources: Olympics, WYMT)

From each group, the top two players will head on to the semifinals. Medvedev and Zverev each have a win in the Red Group and are already an inch closer to the semifinals.

Talking about the match between Alcaraz and Rublev, they have never faced each other in a major tournament before and thus it will be an interesting encounter. They locked horns in the ITF Challenger once though, and Andrey Rublev emerged victorious back then. 

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