Carlos Alcaraz Upset by Russia's Roman Safiullin at Paris Masters
Despite his growing stature as a world-class player, Carlos Alcaraz experiences a surprising setback, succumbing to Roman Safiullin of Russia at the Paris Masters
Despite his development into one of the world's top players, Carlos Alcaraz is still susceptible to having an off day. This was evident when the reigning Wimbledon champion unexpectedly lost to Russia's Roman Safiullin in the Paris Masters on Tuesday. It was the 20-year-old's first opening round defeat at a tournament this year.
The world number two, who had a bye in the first round, appeared to be far from his best as he suffered a 6-3 6-4 loss to a player ranked 43 positions lower than him.
Despite taking a lead in both sets, Alcaraz, who had to withdraw from a tournament in Switzerland last week due to injury, made 27 unforced errors, giving his opponent an opportunity to make a comeback.
"It's challenging to bounce back swiftly," Alcaraz expressed to journalists following the defeat. "Especially for me, it's exceptionally tough to be eliminated in the early stages of a tournament where you anticipate reaching the finals or holding high expectations for yourself. It's deeply painful. The pain runs deep."
"Currently, I find myself in a rare moment where I prefer not to dwell on the upcoming days, the training sessions, and everything else. However, I understand that it is necessary for me to do so. There remains but a single tournament left, yet these defeats sting deeply."
Roman Safiullin produced a brilliant performance to peg back the world No. 2.
Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters
Safiullin needed no extra motivation as he once again stepped up to the challenge - this significant victory comes after his impressive performance at this year's Wimbledon, where he made it to the quarterfinals.
"I'm glad I could secure the win, although it wasn't Carlos' finest performance," Safiullin commented after the match.
Despite not being in his best form, it is extremely difficult to defeat him. Therefore, I am delighted that I achieved victory. Alcaraz had not played since his loss to Grigor Dimitrov at the Shanghai Masters on October 11.
The series of losses have significantly hindered Alcaraz's hopes of reclaiming the world No. 1 position from Novak Djokovic before the year's end. Djokovic, the Serbian player, is scheduled to kick off his Paris Masters campaign against Tomás Etcheverry from Argentina on Wednesday in his pursuit of securing his seventh title at the tournament.
