“I want to put this trophy next to the others..” said Carlos Alcaraz before the beginning of the ATP Finals. However, things have certainly become much tougher and trickier than before. Not only is he facing the top 8 ATP players, but he is also battling health concerns. Alcaraz is finding it difficult to breathe through the blocked nose, despite using Fuchsia nose strips. Nothing seems to come to his rescue at this moment. While he is still focused on competing in the year-ending championship, fans are worried about his well-being and just want the young Spaniard to prioritize his health.

Everyone has their gazes stuck on the real-time health updates of the 4-time Grand Slam champion. Despite losing to Casper Ruud in the opening match of the tournament in straight sets, Alcaraz refuses to relent even a step away from his goal of winning the title. But fans are worried. When the renowned journalist Jose Morgado shared an update on his X handle with a short video of Alcaraz and his team with the caption, “Carlitos Alcaraz is trying everything,” everyone expressed concerns about his health.

The video shows Carlos Alcaraz with his team, who lifts his shirt and rubs (what seems to be) an ointment on his chest, probably to help with decongestion and ease his breathing against Andrey Rublev.

While Alcaraz’s team is trying hard to help him recover, fans are urging him to prioritize his health over everything.

Tennis fans are concerned, as Carlos Alcaraz gets ready to take on Andrey Rublev

Before the start of the year-ending event in Turin, Carlos Alcaraz was all pumped up to win the title. A gutsy thought, when the roster features the consistent Italian star, Jannik Sinner, and the hungry Alexander Zverev among others. But fate had other plans as Alcaraz entered the tournament struggling with his health. With a blocked nose and cold, he marked a losing start to his campaign against Ruud. Now as Alcaraz gets ready for his next match against Rublev, one fan suggested, “At this point, he should withdraw.” 

However, Alcaraz has already shunned all the thoughts of withdrawing from the completion. His coach let everyone know of his choice. Juan Carlos Ferrero said, “We must not anticipate whether he will play or not tomorrow. We have all played in these circumstances. I think he will not get to the point where he will not go to court. It will be difficult for him to be 100% tomorrow.” Certainly, a bad time to be sick, and like many fans, this X user was also confused by the stand of Alcaraz and his team. They said, “Looks sick and still want to play… never understand his team.”

Moreover, some eagle-eyed fans observed that it’s not just at the ATP Finals that Alcaraz is seen using an ointment on his chest. It was in Beijing too that he resorted to rubbing the ointment. Refering to the ointment as ‘Vicks,’ the fan wrote, “He’s been using Vicks since Beijing. He is getting more and more worn out.” Does this imply that Alcaraz has this coming since long time?

While the fans always want Alcaraz to showcase his extraordinary skills on the court, they are also concerned about his well-being. Moreover, because of his health, he is struggling on the court anyway. Alcaraz was unable to keep up with the ball during the match against Ruud and this X user went for a bit realistic prediction for Alcaraz’s match against Rublev, despite favoring him. The fan wrote, “I love Carlos, but I think he will lose today.”

However, Alcaraz is not the only player who has chosen to continue despite struggling with his health. His opponent today, Rublev himself, faced such a situation previously in the season. He was down with fever and illness and ended up winning a Madrid Open 2024. Reflecting on that, a fan said, “Many players play sick. He knows what he’s doing, he has a team of people who advise him. Rublev won a Masters after which he was hospitalised. Smart health-wise – no? But it can be done.” Though Rublev did pay the price of playing with health concerns, with a win, it would have still felt sweet later.

Alcaraz might not win against Rublev, but he knows one thing for sure “Never Give Up.” It would be interesting to see how the Spaniard tackles Andrey Rublev’s challenge!