Match Details
Fixture: (2) Carlos Alcaraz vs (5) Andrey Rublev
Date: November 15, 2023
Tournament: ATP Finals 2023
Round: Round robin
Venue: Pala Alpitour, Turin, Italy
Category: Year-ending championships
Surface: Indoor hardcourt
Prize money: $15,000,000
Live telecast: USA – Tennis Channel | UK – Amazon Prime Video | Canada - TSN
Carlos Alcaraz vs Andrey Rublev preview
Second seed Carlos Alcaraz will play against Andrey Rublev in the group stage of the 2023 ATP Finals on Wednesday.
Alcaraz faced Alexander Zverev in his first tie of the round robin stage. The Spaniard went down an early break to trail 3-1 in the first set, but dug deep to get back on level terms. Down the line he held three set points on his opponent's serve at 6-5, but wasted all of them.
Nevertheless, Alcaraz got the upper hand in the tie-break to win the opener. The 20-year old fell behind 3-0 in the second set and was unable to recover from that deficit and lost the set.
Zverev dealt the first blow in the third set to go 3-2 up. Alcaraz got a whiff of a break point when the German served for the match. However, the latter held his nerve to defeat the Spaniard 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4.
Rublev kicked off his campaign in Turin against Daniil Medvedev. The former was under pressure right from the start as he faced a total of four break points across his first couple of service games in the first set.
Rublev finally caved in as he got broken in the seventh game of the set. He had break point chances on Medvedev's serve in the very next game, but failed to make the most of them.
It proved to be costly as the first set then slipped out of Rublev's grasp. He was no match for Medvedev in the second set as the 25-year old dropped his serve twice and slumped to a 6-4, 6-2 loss.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Andrey Rublev head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Andrey Rublev odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Carlos Alcaraz vs Andrey Rublev prediction
Alcaraz's ATP Finals debut started off on a disappointing note with a loss to Zverev, but he still has a chance to salvage his campaign. However, he'll need to play a lot better for that to happen.
Alcaraz leaked frequent errors from his forehand wing in the previous match. The Spaniard was caught a little off guard by the fast conditions, but now having played a match, he'll know what kind of adjustments to make.
Rublev, meanwhile, got outfoxed by Medvedev with ease. The 25-year old's record at the ATP Finals isn't that great. While he did make the semifinals last year, he has won just four matches in his previous three appearances.
Surprisingly, this will be the first meeting between these two despite being top 10 mainstays for quite some time. Alcaraz's form has been shaky for a while, but given his level of play and achievements, he'll be considered the favorite to make it through this clash.
Pick: Carlos Alcaraz to win in three sets.