Paris in the springtime works just fine for Carlos Alcaraz. He’s won Roland-Garros two times running on the vaunted terre battue of Roland-Garros. But Paris in the autumn 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 dropped to 5-5 lifetime at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Never mind that he’s been virtually bullet proof no matter where he has played all season, entering Tuesday’s tussle in Paris with a 67-7 record and eight titles, having not failed to reach a final in every event he had played since the Miami Open in March.
“I just didn’t feel well today,” top-ranked Alcaraz admitted. “A lot of mistakes. I had no feeling at all. I think Norrie played really great tennis today, as well. Solid 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 – the La Defense Arena – in Paris. It just didn’t seem to help much.
“I had a lot of practices here,” he said. “I was feeling great, feeling amazing, moving on the court, hitting the ball. I had all the ideas clear, all the goals clear. But today, even in the first set, even the one I won, I just felt like I could do much more than what I did. I tried in the second set just to be better, but it was totally the opposite. I just feel even worse.”
Credit to Norrie, who played with passion and executed his game plan to the best of his abilities, says Alcaraz. The Brit 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 come back to the match,” Alcaraz said. “I had few break points, which I would say could have been really helpful for me. I didn’t take it with really easy mistakes. I’m really disappointed about my level today, and it is what it is.”
Next up, Alcaraz will try and come back stronger so that he can 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 large lead over No.2 Jannik Sinner in the live rankings, but Sinner could trim the Race to Turin gap by 1,000 points this week with a title in Paris.
“I will try to prepare myself as [well] as I can, coming to Turin, coming to Davis Cup, really important tournaments that I have ahead right now,” he said. “Right now I just want to be back home, and let’s see what I gonna do. But of course I’m gonna practice and prepare myself, and obviously I will try not let this thing happen again.”
