Follow us on Google Discover Carlos Alcaraz is already stepping up his preparation ahead of his final singles tournament of the year at the ATP Finals.
Alcaraz suffered a shock defeat to Cameron Norrie at the Paris Masters last week, in his earliest defeat at any tournament since March.
Not only did he lose his opening match, but Jannik Sinner also dethroned Alcaraz as world number one after going on to win the Paris Masters title.
Alcaraz has a relatively poor record on indoor hard courts, and he is already trying to improve that after playing a practice set against Taylor Fritz in Turin.
Photo by Glenn Gervot/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesCarlos Alcaraz wins practice set against Taylor Fritz before the ATP Finals
Alcaraz and Fritz are two of the seven players who have already confirmed their qualification for the tournament in Turin, despite Novak Djokovic’s ATP Finals participation still being in doubt.
Having arrived early ahead of the ATP Finals, Alcaraz and Fritz have been training with one another and even played a practice match.
Fritz has struggled to close the gap against Alcaraz, and that is proving to be the case even in a practice match that he lost, 6-3 4-2.
Alcaraz is set to continue training against his fellow competitors in Turin, as he has another scheduled practice session with world number three Alexander Zverev.
While Zverev is not in Alcaraz’s group, Fritz is alongside Alex de Minaur and Djokovic, who has been given an encouraging sign for his ATP Finals participation.
Carlos Alcaraz will be hoping to improve his record at the ATP Finals
Alcaraz’s poor record on indoor hard courts is also represented by his previous appearances at the ATP Finals.
The world number two has qualified for the ATP Finals three times, but was forced to miss the 2022 tournament due to injury.
In his two on-court appearances at the ATP Finals, Alcaraz has only won three of his seven matches and has never made it past the semifinals.
This included last year, where Alcaraz exited at the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals after losing to Zverev and Casper Ruud.
YearCarlos Alcaraz’s Win-loss Record at the ATP FinalsCarlos Alcaraz’s Result at the ATP Finals20232-2 (50%)Lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic20241-2 (33%)Knocked out a the Round-robin stage (Lost to Casper Ruud & Alexander Zverev)
What Alcaraz does have in his favour is that he has a winning head-to-head against all the other players except Djokovic and Zverev.
As well as having the goal to improve his record at the ATP Finals, Alcaraz also knows that three wins will secure his return back to world number one.