TURIN, Italy—An off-color Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock 6–1, 7–5 defeat against Norway’s Casper Ruud in his opening match at the ATP Finals as the Spaniard’s hopes of winning the year-end title for the first time suffered a blow on Monday.
The round-robin format of the eight-man event means he could still crown a standout year in style, but the third seed has left himself with little margin for error in his remaining group matches and will need to find a higher level.