Paris in the spring works well Carlos Alcaraz. He has won Roland-Garros twice while running in the glorified Roland-Garros competition. But Paris in the fall is a different story for the six-time major champion.
Alcaraz dropped a three-set decision to Cameron Norrie in Paris on Tuesday and the 22-year-old wunderkind was left wondering what went wrong as he fell to 5-5 for life at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Never mind that he’s been virtually unstoppable no matter where he’s played all season, entering Tuesday’s clash in Paris with a 67-7 record and eight titles, having failed to reach a final in every event he’s played since the Miami Open in March.
“I just didn’t feel good today,” admitted top-ranked Alcaraz. “A lot of mistakes. I had no feeling at all. I think Norrie played really great tennis today, too. Strong match. And I think that was the key.”
Alcaraz said he had plenty of time to get used to the conditions at the new venue – La Defense Arena – in Paris. It just didn’t seem to help much.
“I’ve had a lot of practice here,” he said. “I felt great, I felt great, moving around the court, hitting the ball. I had all the ideas, all the goals clear. But today, even in the first set, and the one I won, I just felt like I could have done a lot more than I did. I tried in the second set just to be better, but it was the complete opposite. I feel even worse.”
Credit to Norrie, who played with passion and executed his game plan to the best of his ability, says Alcaraz. The Briton has now won three of his last five against the Spaniard, impressively.
“I think I have to give credit to Cam as well because I think he didn’t let me stay or get back into the game,” Alcaraz said. “I had a few break points, which I would say could have been really helpful for me. I didn’t take it too easy. I’m very disappointed with my level today, and it is what it is.”
Next, Alcaraz will try to come back stronger in order to lock down the No.1 ranking. His next event will be the ATP Finals in Turin, which starts on November 9. Alcaraz entered the week with a huge lead over No. 2 Jannik Sinner in the live standings, but Sinner can reduce the 1,000-point gap in the Tour of Turin this week with a title in Paris.
“I will try to prepare as best as I can, coming to Turin, to the Davis Cup, a really important tournament that I have in front of me now,” he said. “Right now I want to go home and see what I’m going to do. But of course I’m going to practice and prepare, and obviously I’m going to try not to let this happen again.”
