2024 Madrid Open ATP Master's 1000 QF - [2] Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (SPN) v/s [7] Andrey Rublev (RUS)

win prediction poll


  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
Missed this. Had to be an interesting mix of Rubby firing on all cylinders and Alcz errors, both of which aren't par for the course lately.

FAA is a contender at this point for sure.
 
it’s bad for the game if Carlos isn’t around in the fact if sinner doesn’t deliver then we’re gonna have glass ceiling 0 for life QF players like Rublev or Ruud dominating slams LOL. Guys that would do nothing at any other time will be dominating the game now

It’s all wide open if sinner and Carlos don’t hold fort
 

nolefam_2024

Talk Tennis Guru
it’s bad for the game if Carlos isn’t around in the fact if sinner doesn’t deliver then we’re gonna have glass ceiling 0 for life QF players like Rublev or Ruud dominating slams LOL. Guys that would do nothing at any other time will be dominating the game now

It’s all wide open if sinner and Carlos don’t hold fort
Carlos is going to be around .

It's only bad for those who think he will dominate everything leaving nothing for the rest.
 

Hera

Rookie
Skipping Madrid would have been a very difficult choice to make but his arm wasn’t quite ready for a masters event. But his coach Ferrero should have stop him. Especially when he has a history of arm injuries.Alcaraz is super young with plenty of opportunities to play. One more week might have been enough instead he is risking making it worse or picking up another injury due to overcompensating. I truly wish him the best and hope his injury fully heals quickly.
 
Alcaraz has gotten to one Final total since last year's Cinci.

The fact he managed to pull through and win the whole thing has clouded in the minds of too many that he's having an unquestionably bad period.

Dropping an injury he's clearly not entirely out of on top of that is the proverbial cherry.
 

nolefam_2024

Talk Tennis Guru
Alcaraz has gotten to one Final total since last year's Cinci.

The fact he managed to pull through and win the whole thing has clouded in the minds of too many that he's having an unquestionably bad period.
Its natural at his age. We just overexpected from him due to 2022.

I think he is still maturing. At age his, Djokovic lost a total of 17 times although he did win 4 titles. It was short peaks and long busts.
 
Its natural at his age. We just overexpected from him due to 2022.

I think he is still maturing. At age his, Djokovic lost a total of 17 times although he did win 4 titles. It was short peaks and long busts.
That's what I'm saying. The bad part is that he seems to buy into the overhype from fans himself
 
He did before didn't he. I think he is not doing so recently.
Perhaps "buying into his own hype" is not the best way to put it, but Alcaraz seems to definitely have his weakest point being his mental strength and especially how he handles losses (not talking about tantrums, obviously, internally)
 

Arak

Legend
That arm injury still not gone complete;y perhaps
Possibly, but I don’t believe that was the reason. Alcaraz in the first set was a completely different player than the one in the second and third. He looked confused as to why he suddenly lost his touch. He was constantly rehearsing the forehand mechanics trying to figure out what was wrong.
 

NaDjoFed

Rookie
That arm injury still not gone complete;y perhaps

that's for sure, but I am also a little bit worried of this constant up and down during the match. Honestly, we have not see any progress in the last 12 months, whereas Sinner has massively improved his game.
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
Alacaraz still in the woods (for possibly injury and whatever other reasons). Flip side, Rublev having a nice run following all of his freak-out travails in recent months.
 

Rattie

Legend
Possibly, but I don’t believe that was the reason. Alcaraz in the first set was a completely different player than the one in the second and third. He looked confused as to why he suddenly lost his touch. He was constantly rehearsing the forehand mechanics trying to figure out what was wrong.

He has been mentioning it after each match so it was never really at the point where he was trusting it and his forehand underpreformed as a result.
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
So Sinner is out?

Med wins a second clay Masters against all odds? Fritz randomly wins a clay masters? Rublev is reborn? FAA is even more reborn? Honestly if Sinner and Alcaraz are out, then any of the remaining players have a decent shot.
 
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Pheasant

Legend
Work unfortunately got in the way, so I couldn't catch this match. What the heck happened to Alcaraz? Was it obvious that his forearm injury was bothering him? Did the announcers mention that his FH and BH speeds dropped dramatically?
 

Hitman

Bionic Poster
@Hitman : Carlos still your RG favorite?

Just saw the highlights. I think that Struff match came to soon for him in his clay campaign.

I still have him as fav as it stands, but if he falters very early in Rome, I might need to change my prediction.
 

Soul_Evisceration

Hall of Fame
At this point in time if he has confidence issues with his wrist/forehand, is there any point of him to show up in Rome to ruin his chances for Roland Garros?

If I were him, I would skip Rome or try to win as little as possible at that particular tournament.
 

Rattie

Legend
Just saw the highlights. I think that Struff match came to soon for him in his clay campaign.

I still have him as fav as it stands, but if he falters very early in Rome, I might need to change my prediction.

Summary: Without taking away from Rublev, but he had the flu, which was made worse by the fact that he woke up today with sore muscles all over his body after yesterday's intense game, including his arm. (+)


Make of it what you will but he seemed rather out of sorts from his second match onwards to me. Against Shevchenko he was pretty flawless; after that not close to the same level.
 

McGradey

Hall of Fame
Watching Carlos in Madrid he looked to be playing with fairly low confidence, so on one hand it's good he managed to win some matches playing below his best. That said, young fella's arm needs a rest. He ain't defending all those points he has upcoming with the form he is in, so some tough calls on what to play and what to forego probably need to be made. Now I've said that, watch his arm perfectly reform like the T-1000 and his form go on an explosive upwards trend.
 

Vincent-C

Hall of Fame
Watching Carlos in Madrid he looked to be playing with fairly low confidence, so on one hand it's good he managed to win some matches playing below his best. That said, young fella's arm needs a rest. He ain't defending all those points he has upcoming with the form he is in, so some tough calls on what to play and what to forego probably need to be made. Now I've said that, watch his arm perfectly reform like the T-1000 and his form go on an explosive upwards trend.
Alky has not been playing a lot of tennis (at all), but that delicate flower does already seem to need a rest.
I agree that he'll be, uh, pumped for the French- though no longer the favorite there.
 

Rafa4LifeEver

G.O.A.T.
Alky has not been playing a lot of tennis (at all), but that delicate flower does already seem to need a rest.
I agree that he'll be, uh, pumped for the French- though no longer the favorite there.
For God's sake he needs to increase the swing weight of his racquet & get a customized one at that, STOP using lighter stock babolat.
 

Vincent-C

Hall of Fame
For God's sake he needs to increase the swing weight of his racquet & get a customized one at that, STOP using lighter stock babolat.
I also think the lighter racquets are generally a mistake. They inevitably lead to "arming" the ball, which can work
acceptably well on the BH, but not really the other side. I blame Nadal for their popularization- and other stuff, too. ;)
 
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Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
Wow, what happened? Was Andrey in the zone?
“He did well with the limited tools that he has.”

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