The fight for number 1 in the world is complicated for the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, defeated in the second round of the Paris Masters 1,000 by the Russian Roman Safiullin, 47th in the ranking, from the previous phase, by 6-3 and 6-4 .
The Murcian is not going through a good moment, very imprecise on the indoor court of the French capital, at the mercy of a player who is experiencing the best moment of his career, as witnessed by the quarterfinals he reached at Wimbledon and the final he played in Chengdu. .
The Masters 1,000 that closes the year is not going well for Alcaraz, who had not initially lost in this type of tournament for 9 years and who once again crashed against a track that is elusive.
It is the first time this season that he has lost his first match in a tournament and only Djokovic can say that he has won all of his debuts this year.
With this defeat, his chances of finishing number 1 remain in the hands of the Serbian, who this Wednesday will make his debut against the Argentine Tomás Martín Etchevarry in a tournament that he has won six times and where he is the current runner-up.
The Serbian defends more points and there is still the Turin Masters ahead, which brings together the eight best of the season, but Alcaraz has mortgaged a good part of his chances of finishing at the top of the ranking.
The match was full of inaccuracies on both sides, but it was the Russian who dictated the pace, aggressive with the serve, confident when the first came in, marking the impasse to which the Spaniard joined uncomfortably, against the current, unable to break that cadence.
Safiullin failed and succeeded, a slow tennis player, but with lethal strikes, who saw how the ball accompanied him just as in the first round against the Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
The Spaniard, who has won two Masters 1,000 this season, the first in Indian Wells and then in Madrid, has arrived at the end of the year shaken and if last week he skipped the appointment with Basel due to physical problems, he arrived in the French capital warning that he didn't feel one hundred percent.
The latest results had already set off alarm bells and the worst omens were confirmed in a match that, on paper, they should have won, but in which they were not able to leave their mark.
The Russian was playing the lottery and Alcaraz was barely able to respond to his attacks, very unsuccessful, without answers, without arguments to trigger doubts in the rival camp.
And he began by leading in both sets, immediately breaking the serve of his rival, who reacted quickly in both cases, recovered it immediately and returned the blow each time, leaving a mark, the Spaniard's foot on the ground, without the ability to react.
At the Paris Masters 1,000, Alcaraz begins to write the same black legend that for years persecuted his compatriot Rafael Nadal, who never won this tournament.
The Murcian left crying in 2021 against the Frenchman Hugo Gaston, before a hostile crowd that chanted for his compatriot, who managed to overcome a 5-0 loss.
Last year, abdominal problems forced him to retire in the quarterfinals against the Dane Holger Rune, who ended up lifting the cup.
For Safiullin it is the victory of a lifetime in his most notable year and he will now face his compatriot Karen Khachanov.
