Carlos Alcaraz surprisingly lost in his first-round match of the Paris Masters 2023 on Wednesday to Russia’s Roman Safuillin, 3-6, 4-6. Speaking ahead of the tournament, Alcaraz admitted that he wanted to forget his previous campaigns in the tournament. He had participated in the ATP 1000 event twice before this and also faced disappointing results both times.
As an unseeded 18-year-old in 2021, he punched above his weight by defeating #8 seed Jannik Sinner in the second round. However, he was eliminated in the next round by Hugo Gaston. A year later, Alcaraz arrived in Paris as the US Open champion, World No.1 and the title favourite. Unfortunately, he retired in the second set of his quarter-final against Holger Rune. Alcaraz also ended up missing the ATP Finals.
Did his pre-tournament press conference showcase his vulnerability? Perhaps, honesty might not be the best policy for Carlos Alcaraz to be competitive on a tennis court. Alcaraz spoke about his record in the tournament.
Carlos Alcaraz claimed that he was excited to participate in this year’s tournament. But while mentioning that his past record did not play on his mind, his sheepish smile signalled perhaps that Alcaraz had nervous energy entering Round 1. ‘Trying to forget’ is a statement which could indicate lack of confidence, which an opponent looks for especially in a sport like tennis.
It also has to be mentioned that Alcaraz is playing despite suffering from multiple injuries recently.
“Well, no, I’m really excited to play this tournament. You know, I just said I have not great memories, but I am trying to forget everything that happen the years before. You know, in 2021 I had not a good run. Last year, I think I surpass that rounds. Hopefully this year gonna be better (smiling).
“But something that I’m not thinking about what happen last year and 2021. I’m just focusing on this one. You know, just thinking about my feelings on the court, that it’s going really, really well. So excited to start the tournament.”
Carlos Alcaraz set to fall further in year-end World No.1 race
Novak Djokovic now becomes the favorite to win the Paris Masters as Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev have been eliminated already from the tournament. For Alcaraz, this is perhaps the biggest dent to his chances for ending the year as the World No.1 as he remains 500 points behind Djokovic. If Djokovic wins or even makes it to the final, that lead would easily go up above 1000 points.
Following that, Carlos Alcaraz would only have 2 tournaments left in 2023 to play in. One of them would be the ATP Finals in Turin, where Novak Djokovic is a serial winner and the defending champion. Unless Djokovic fails miserably in Paris and Turin both, Alcaraz returning to the No.1 spot is extremely unlikely until February 2024 at least.
In the Paris Masters, Roman Safuillin will take on Karen Khachanov in Round 2 next.
