Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. Today, I’m super excited to dive into a fascinating story about one of the game’s biggest stars, Carlos Alcaraz, and his recent struggles at the Paris Masters.
Carlos Alcaraz, the four-time Major winner, has yet to make a name for himself at the Paris Masters. Despite reaching the quarter-final in 2022, he has suffered early losses in the previous two campaigns. And guess what? Both of his recent Paris Masters defeats happened on October 31, Halloween night.
Let’s start with his latest loss. In 2023, Alcaraz fell to qualifier Roman Safiullin in a match that saw the Russian secure a 6-3, 6-4 victory in just over an hour and a half. This was Alcaraz’s worst result of the season. Safiullin outplayed Alcaraz behind the second serve, suffering two breaks and building the advantage with four return games on his tally. The Russian forged a slim lead in the quickest and more advanced rallies, reducing the number of errors and besting the Spaniard from the baseline with a fine pace.
Fast forward to this year’s Paris Masters, where Alcaraz faced another early exit. He was defeated by home favorite Ugo Humbert in a thrilling match that ended 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and 16 minutes. Humbert’s victory was a career-best win, and it marked another early loss for Alcaraz at the tournament.
So, what went wrong for Alcaraz? One key factor was his struggle with the super-fast court in Paris. Despite a decent effort in sets two and three, he couldn’t overcome his terrible start. Humbert collected seven points more than Alcaraz and played well behind the second serve, facing four break points in the second set and erasing three to keep the pressure on the other side. Alcaraz lost serve three times, including the crucial one at 5-6 in the final set.
It’s clear that Alcaraz is facing some tough challenges, especially on these quick courts. But don’t worry, folks; we know he’ll bounce back stronger than ever. After all, as any Miami native would say, “Vamos a ver” – we’ll see!
If you want, you can check out the news where I found it here.
Yours truly,
Mia
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