The words of the world number 1 after the defeat in the first round of the Masters 1000 in Paris against Cameron Norrie: “Even by winning the first set, I felt I could do more. In the second I tried, but it got worse and worse. I have to avoid something like this happening again. Now I’ll think about the Finals”
“I really don’t know what happened. I don’t remember ever playing so badly.” Carlos Alcaraz was concise, despite his disorientation after a defeat that was inexplicable for him. The Spaniard made his debut at the Masters 1000 in Paris, beaten by Cameron Norrie who had already been able to beat him twice, in Rio in 2023 and in Cincinnati in 2022. But tonight’s defeat, in addition to reopening the doors to the top of the ranking for Jannik Sinner, cannot only be found in the skill of the Briton, but in the disastrous performance of the Murcian, peppered with 54 unforced errors. A sensational step backwards that Alcaraz himself just can’t explain: “Even after winning the first set, I felt that I could have done much more. In the second I tried to do better, but it was the opposite. I felt even worse. Yet, in training, I felt phenomenal, I moved and hit well. I had clear ideas, clear objectives, but I’m really disappointed with my level today, without taking anything away from Cam Norrie.” Now Carlos is called to quickly regain the feeling with his tennis in view of the Finals: “I just want to go home to prepare as best as possible for Turin, and to try to avoid something like this happening again.”