Alcaraz struggles with stomach issue in loss to Ruud at ATP Finals and Zverev beats Rublev

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz struggled with a stomach issue and looked far from the player who won two Grand Slams this year while losing to Casper Ruud 6-1, 7-5 at the ATP Finals on Monday.

It marked Ruud’s first victory over Alcaraz in five career meetings, and the result could make it difficult for Alcaraz to advance from the round-robin stage at the season-ending event for the top eight players.

“I didn’t feel well on court,” Alcaraz said. “A few days before coming here, I got sick at home. ... This morning, I feel uncomfortable in the stomach.”

In the same group, Alexander Zverev began his bid for a third ATP Finals title by beating Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4.

The top two finishers from each group advance to the semifinals.

On Sunday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner and U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz beat Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev, respectively, in the other group.

Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon to boost his career total to four Grand Slam titles. But he also struggled at the Paris Masters recently and dropped behind Zverev to No. 3 in the rankings this week.

“I have no experience playing on indoor courts,” Alcaraz said. “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. ... A lot of players are better than me on indoor court.”

Ruud reached the 2021 semifinals and 2022 final in his first two appearances at the finals. But he has struggled recently, too, losing his first or second match in his last seven events.

“I’m not full of confidence,” Ruud said. “A match like today might be able to change it.”

Alcaraz was broken when he served for the second set at 5-4.

Alcaraz led 25-16 in winners but committed 26 unforced errors to Ruud’s 10.

Ruud converted all four of his break points while Alcaraz was just one of six in that category.

“I’m tired mentally," Alcaraz said. "Obviously a lot of matches, really tight schedule, really demanding year with not too many days off.”

Zverev, who won the finals in 2018 in London and 2021 in Turin, extended his winning streak to six matches following a title run at the Paris Masters.

Rublev is making his fifth consecutive appearance at the finals but hasn’t won a match at the event since 2022.

Zverev served nine aces and dropped only 10 points on his serve in 10 service games.

“He served wide 220 (kph) on the deuce side,” Rublev said. "Normally everybody serves slice and it’s 190. He find(s) a way to serve 220 wide on the deuce side. It’s not easy.

“Even if you catch the direction, when the flat serve comes 227, slice serve comes 219, 215, it’s tough to just see the ball.”

Before the Zverev-Rublev match, Sinnner received the trophy for finishing the year at No. 1 in the rankings.

“There’s no place better to celebrate this trophy,” Sinner said as his mom, Siglinde, looked on in tears. “Thanks for all of your support.”

Sinner is playing at home for the first time since it was announced before his U.S. Open title that he tested positive in two separate drug tests this year.

A decision to clear Sinner of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in September. A final ruling in the case is expected early next year.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Russia's Andrey Rublev makes a return to Germany's Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals tennis tournament in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)

Russia's Andrey Rublev serves to Germany's Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals tennis tournament in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)

Italy's Jannik Sinner holds the trophy as ATP world best player at the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Sinner was presented with the trophy for finishing the year ranked No. 1. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Germany's Alexander Zverev celebrates after winning the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Russia's Andrey Rublev, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italy's Jannik Sinner holds the trophy as ATP world best player at the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Sinner was presented with the trophy for finishing the year ranked No. 1. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz waves his fans at the end of the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Norway's Casper Ruud, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

CORRECT NATIONALITY OF PLAYER RUUD Norway's Casper Ruud returns the ball to Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

CORRECT NATIONALITY OF PLAYER RUUD Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Norway's Casper Ruud during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

CORRECT NATIONALITY OF PLAYER RUUD Norway's Casper Ruud returns the ball to Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

CORRECT NATIONALITY OF PLAYER RUUD Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Norway's Casper Ruud during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Norway's Casper Ruud during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

CORRECT NATIONALITY OF PLAYER Norway's Casper Ruud celebrates after winning the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

CORRECT NATIONALITY OF PLAYER RUUD Spain's Carlos Alcaraz reacts during the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals agains Norway's Casper Ruud, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Denmark's Casper Ruud during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Denmark's Casper Ruud during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Denmark's Casper Ruud returns the ball to Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Denmark's Casper Ruud during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

The Native American Church is considered the most widespread religious movement among the Indigenous people of North America. It holds sacred the peyote cactus, which grows naturally only in some parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico. Peyote has been used spiritually in ceremonies, and as a medicine by Native American people for millennia.

It contains several psychoactive compounds, primarily mescaline, which is a hallucinogen. Different tribes of peyote people have their own name for the cactus. While it is still a controlled substance, U.S. laws passed in 1978 and 1994 allow Native Americans to use, harvest and transport peyote. However, these laws only allow federally recognized Native American tribes to use the substance and don't apply to the broader group of Indigenous people in the US.

The Native American Church developed into a distinct way of life around 1885 among the Kiowa and Comanche of Oklahoma. After 1891, it began to spread as far north as Canada. Now, more than 50 tribes and 400,000 people practice it. In general, the peyotist doctrine espouses belief in one supreme God who deals with humans through various spirits that then carry prayers to God. In many tribes, the peyote plant itself is a deity, personified as Peyote Spirit.

The Native American Church is not one unified entity like, say, the Catholic Church. It contains a diversity of tribes, beliefs and practices. Peyote is what unifies them. After peyote was banned by U.S. government agents in 1888 and later by 15 states, Native American tribes began incorporating as individual Native American Churches in 1918. In order to preserve the peyote ceremony, the federal and state governments encouraged Native American people to organize as a church, said Darrell Red Cloud, the great-great grandson of Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota Nation and vice president of the Native American Church of North America.

In the following decades, the religion grew significantly, with several churches bringing Jesus Christ’s name and image into the church so their congregations and worship would be accepted, said Steve Moore, who is non-Native and was formerly a staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund.

“Local religious leaders in communities would see the image of Jesus, a Bible or cross on the wall of the meeting house or tipi and they would hear references to Jesus in the prayers or songs,” he said. “That probably helped persuade the authorities that the Native people were in the process of transformation to Christianity.”

This persecution of peyote people continued even after the formation of the Native American Church, said Frank Dayish Jr. a former Navajo Nation vice president and chairperson for the Council of the Peyote Way of Life Coalition.

In the 1960s, there were laws prohibiting peyote in the Navajo Nation, he said. Dayish remembers a time during that period when police confiscated peyote from his church, poured gasoline on the plants and set them on fire.

“I remember my dad and other relatives went over and saved the green peyote that didn’t burn,” he said, adding that it took decades of lobbying until an amendment to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1994 permitted members of federally recognized Native American tribes to use peyote for religious purposes.

Peyote is the central part of a ceremony that takes place in a tipi around a crescent-shaped earthen altar mound and a sacred fire. The ceremony typically lasts all night and includes prayer, singing, the sacramental eating of peyote, water rites and spiritual contemplation.

Morgan Tosee, a member of the Comanche Nation who leads ceremonies within the Comanche Native American Church, said peyote is utilized in the context of prayer — not smoked — as many tend to imagine.

“When we use it, we either eat it dry or grind it up,” he said. “Sometimes, we make tea out of it. But, we don’t drink it like regular tea. You pray with it and take little sips, like you would take medicine."

Tosee echoes the belief that pervades the church: "If you take care of the peyote, it will take care of you.”

“And if you believe in it, it will heal you,” he said, adding that he has seen the medicine work, healing people with various ailments.

People treat the trip to harvest peyote as a pilgrimage, said Red Cloud. Typically, prayers and ceremonies take place before the pilgrimage to seek blessings for a good journey. Once they get to the peyote gardens, they would touch the ground and thank the Creator before harvesting the medicine. The partaking of peyote is also accompanied by prayer and ceremony. The mescaline in the peyote plant is viewed as God's spirit, Red Cloud said.

“Once we eat it, the sacredness of the medicine is inside of us and it opens the spiritual eye,” he said. “From there, we start to see where the medicine is growing. It shows itself to us. Once we complete the harvest, we bring it back home and have another ceremony to the medicine and give thanks to the Creator.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The property of the late Amada Cardenas, who was one of the first federally licensed peyote dealers, alongside her husband, to harvest and sell the sacramental plant to followers of the Native American Church, in Mirando City, Texas, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)