Carlos Alcaraz appeared at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, which brings together the best eight tennis players in the world this year, with a backpack full of doubts. A disappointing Asian tour and losing the battle to be number one at the end of the year with Novak Djokovic were blows that were difficult to digest. And Alcaraz showed it in Paris, losing in the first round. Also in his debut in Turin against the German Alexander Zverev, where he saw a tennis player with sparks, but without sufficient consistency against an overwhelming opponent with the serve (7-6 (3), 3-6 and 4- 6).
At the beginning, the Murcian's nerves appeared. It was his first presence in a tournament that he had always dreamed of (last year he was absent due to injury). His rival already knew what it was like to win two titles and entered better. In the third game the Murcian's seams were visible and he gave up the serve to him. But he reacted quickly and energetically. Everything changed with one of those epic rallies in which every ball fights. From there, his tennis sailed downwind. Even so, the battle was fierce because Zverev made 85% of first serves. In the tie break he definitively ordered his game and broke the German's will.
The Murcian's crisis of confidence became evident in the second set. Having conquered the first one made him lower his benefits. And Zverev did not waste the opportunity to accelerate and take a 3-0 lead. That second race seemed like a formality and Alcaraz was never able to compete. His tennis had become disordered once again and he was not finding the best decisions on the court (6-3).
It was time to stop and rebuild. Turn the page and show the talent and ambition that have taken you to number one last year. To beat Djokovic at Wimbledon this summer. Zverev did not lower the level and managed to make doubts appear again in the third. A break ball saved by Alcaraz in the third game seemed to restore some lucidity. The Murcian knew that he was not playing at his best, but he was beginning to let go.
With the German intractable on serve, it was Alcaraz who suffered in each service game. But again and again he turned to turn his face on misfortune. Until in the fifth he fell into habitual unforced errors again and the German advanced (2-3). From there to the end, he failed to hold on to the match and suffered a defeat in his debut.
Rebuilding in the most difficult tournament to do so is a titanic task, the best Spanish tennis player of the moment has two games left to achieve it
