It is not the situation that Carlos Alcaraz would have liked to be in. After an eventful season in which he won the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships title, the Spanish sensation was looking to cap off his season on a high with a good showing at the ATP Finals. However, even before the start of the tournament in Turin, Alcaraz suffered a major health scare as he has been experiencing cold. As a result, the Spaniard had major breathing difficulties while being on the court. To make matters worse, his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero provided another grim update.

Despite being affected by the virus, Alcaraz played his first match against Casper Ruud but went down fighting. Ahead of his second encounter in Turin, his coach updated the media about Alcaraz’s health situation. However, there wasn’t much positive news in this regard.

He said, “As soon as he moves a bit, he finds it hard to breathe. He has tightness in his chest. A bad time to fall ill. We can’t predict whether he will play tomorrow or not. We’ve all played under these circumstances. I don’t think it will get to the point of not playing, but it will be difficult for him to be at 100% tomorrow.”

During the training sessions, Alcaraz was seen wearing nose strips which were designed to help battle breathing difficulties. To make matters worse, he has also been suffering from stomach problems as a side effect of the medication he has been taking. After his match against Ruud, Alcaraz was seen hiding his face under his towel, further highlighting the poor condition he was in due to a blocked nose.

Amid his health struggles, Alcaraz’s opponent, Ruud gave a glimpse into the Spaniard’s on-court struggles. Additionally, he also wished Alcaraz a speedy recovery.

Casper Ruud found it difficult to play against unfit Carlos Alcaraz

While Alcaraz opted to play in the tournament, it was always going to be an uphill task for him against the best players in the world due to breathing difficulties. It was quite evident on the court that he couldn’t cope with the pace of his opponent due to his health struggles as Ruud went on to win the match in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. Subsequently, Ruud sparked growing concerns about Alcaraz’s health.

He said, “I knew he was maybe dealing with a bit of a cold. I’ve seen him snuffling around in the area here and always with a tissue for his nose. Of course, that’s sad, that’s not good for him, but it’s also part of the game and I knew it coming in. I tried to make him play rallies and do my best but it’s not easy because, when you know someone is not 100%, maybe you get stressed yourself, thinking this is a really big chance for me to maybe win.”

Earlier today, Alcaraz tried practicing on the court but could last hardly for 10 minutes. Thus, he remains in major doubt about participating in the match against Andrey Rublev tomorrow.