Carlos Alcaraz’s reaction. The Spaniard, ranked No. 3 in the world, is back in the race for the ATP Masters semi-finals. by beating Russian Andrey Rublev (8th), 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), on Wednesday in Turin.

Alcaraz, who had been ill for several days, had lost his opening match in the “Masters Tournament” on Monday to Norway’s Casper Ruud (7th) 6-1, 7-5. Rublev had also lost his first match, in two sets 6-4, 6-4, to world No.2 Alexander Zverev of Germany.

The Russian, who has been lacking results since losing the final of the Montreal Masters 1000 in August, was no match for Alcaraz in the first set, who showed a completely different face to his first match, helped by his opponent’s numerous unforced errors (14).

Alcaraz wanted to “forget” he was ill

The second set went to a tie-break, a first in this year’s tournament: Alcaraz quickly opened up a 4-1 lead, then let Rublev come back. He even gave his opponent two set points, including one with an easy volley into the net, before clinching victory after an hour and 35 minutes of play.

“I surprised myself with my level of play, especially at the back of the court. I stayed calm and concentrated, trying to forget that I’m ill.“explained the Spaniard, winner of this year’s French Open and Wimbledon. “When I took to the court, I wanted to show the public a different kind of tennis to the one I played on Monday. I think I succeeded“he added.

The Spaniard admitted that he was still troubled by his heavy cold: “I wasn’t great, just OK, but I tried to ignore it all“He had cut short his training session the day before after just fifteen minutes, and for this match was wearing a pink nasal strip to help him breathe easier.

The other match in the “John Newcombe” group will pit Zverev against Ruud on Wednesday evening (8.30pm). Before the final day of the group phase on Friday, only the Norwegian can qualify this Wednesday if he beats Zverev.

Since the start of the ATP 2024 Masters, all seven singles matches played so far have been decided in two sets.