The two-time Wimbledon champion, who previously held a 4-0 head-to-head lead over Ruud, including a memorable win against him in the 2022 US Open final, came into the match as the heavy favorite.

The Norwegian has endured a second-half-of-the-season-slump and came into the year-end finale having won just three matches in his last 12.

However, Ruud delivered an inspired performance to secure a statement victory, taking the tie 6-1, 7-5 in just 85 minutes.

Carlos Alcaraz explains indoor court struggles

Alcaraz was quick to congratulate Ruud, however opened up about some of his physical issues this week, citing stomach cramps.

Arguably, the defeat is perhaps more surprising because of Ruud’s extremely high level rather than Alcaraz’s lacklustre one.

The Spaniard has struggled on the indoor courts this year with an early upset in Paris the most recent example.

After the defeat to Ugo Humbert, Alcaraz explained his woes on the indoor courts, suggesting he struggled to adapt to the speed of the surface.

This time, when quizzed on his lack of success on the indoor courts in comparison to his form on grass and clay, he assessed: “I have no experience playing on indoor courts. I could practice a lot on indoor courts, but I don’t have matches in my back on indoor courts.

“So I don’t know. I have to be better on this part of the year that we play on indoor courts. I don’t know. I’ll be a really good player on indoor courts, I’m sure about it. But I think it’s about time, about getting experience, getting matches in my back, hitting on indoor courts.

“I don’t feel that I’m a bad player indoors. Probably I’m going to say a lot of players are better than me on indoor court. I don’t know. I can’t answer as good as I wanted to this question.”

The statistics behind Carlos Alcaraz’s indoor court struggles

Alcaraz has certainly suffered a handful of defeats on the indoor courts, with his win-rate on the surface the lowest compared to clay, grass, and outdoor hard-courts.

While he has actually played more matches on the indoor courts compared to grass, he started competing two years later on the surface.

With major titles at Wimbledon, the French Open, and the US Open, Alcaraz will be looking for speedy improvement when he heads to Melbourne in January.

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