PARIS – Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz looked out of sorts in his 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to unseeded Cameron Norrie in the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday.
The six-time Grand Slam winner even had an animated conversation with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after losing the second set.
“I am very disappointed with my level,” said Alcaraz. “I didn’t feel well today. Lots of mistakes.”
Norrie sealed the victory on his second match point with a strong first serve that Alcaraz returned long. It was his first career victory against a No. 1 player.
Alcaraz committed 54 unforced errors and won just 64% of his first serve points, while falling to a third defeat in eight games against Norrie. It was their first meeting indoors.
The defeat also ended Alcaraz’s 17-match winning run in Masters events and means second-ranked Jannik Sinner will rise to the top of the ATP rankings if he wins the tournament. Sinner plays against Zizou Bergs on Wednesday.
Alcaraz has won eight titles this season, including three Masters tournaments in addition to the French Open, thanks to a major comeback, and the US Open.
He could not explain this defeat.
‘I’ve practiced a lot [where] I was feeling great, feeling great, moving around the field and hitting the ball. I had all the ideas clear, all the goals clear,” he said. “Even in the first set, even when I won, I felt like I could do a lot more. I just tried to be better in the second set, but it was completely the opposite.”
He praised Norrie.
“I have to give Cam credit,” Alcaraz said. “He wouldn’t let me stay or return to the game.”
Norrie next faces the winner of Wednesday’s match between cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech.
Vacherot defeated 14th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-3 in the first round earlier on Tuesday. The 40th-ranked Vacherot faces Rinderknech just over two weeks after beating him in the final of the Shanghai Masters. Vacherot made a contrasting run during qualifying in China to win his first career tournament and move up the rankings.
The preparations will be slightly different this time.
“We stay in our own bubbles. We are cousins, yes, but we are not on the same team, so we are not going to eat together tonight,” said Vacherot, who is from Monaco.
“In Shanghai we had breakfast together, we warmed up together, because we were far from everyone and everywhere,” Vacherot added. “He came to see my games, I came to watch his games, and we had no one else to rely on. (This time) all our families are here, so we’re going to stick with our side, and I hope we’ll deliver a great game.”
Fifth-seeded American Ben Shelton reached the third round with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Flavio Cobolli. He next faces Andrei Rublev. In the late match, fourth seed Taylor Fritz played Aleksandar Vukic.
Ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 11 Daniil Medvedev also won on Tuesday.
The Paris Masters, an indoor tournament, moved from its old home at the Bercy Arena – which hosted the men’s and women’s basketball finals at last year’s Paris Olympics – to La Défense Arena. The multi-sport venue is home to a rugby team and fans witnessed swimmer Léon Marchand’s gold medal rush at the Paris Games, as well as a Taylor Swift concert in May last year.
For example, Sinner appreciates the new location.
“It’s much more comfortable. A bigger center court and also court 1 and court 2 (are) great courts,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion from Italy. “We have some great facilities where we can practice with a great gym and everything set up perfectly.”
However, third-ranked Alexander Zverev finds the new arena a bit noisy.
“When you’re practicing on one of the outdoor courts, you have noise from court 1, you have noise from the speakers from (the main) court,” the big-serving German said. “There’s a lot going on.”
Information from the Associated Press was used for this report.
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