Carlos Alcaraz is out in the first round of the Paris Masters after a surprising 3-6, 4-6 loss to Roman Safiullin. The match lasted almost one hour and forty minutes.
The number two seed in the world rankings was making his return to the court after having physical issues. He hadn’t played an official match since losing to Grigor Dimitrov in the 1/8-finals in Shanghai Masters. Alcaraz was leading with a break in both sets against Safiullin but could not keep his advantage over the Russian.
The 20-year-old Spaniard ended the match without an ace and with two double faults. His opponent broke his serve for times compared to Alcaraz’s two breaks of serve. Safiullin went 9/10 in net points won. He made three more unforced errors than the Spaniard – both went on to finish the match with 15 winners each.
The world number 2 suffered a blow to his chances to finish number 1 in the end of the year for the first time in his career. Safiullin faces next his compatriot and 16th seeded Karen Khachanov.
Number five seed Andrey Rublev recorded an easy win over Yoshihito Nishioka in another match. Daniel Altmaier from Germany is in the next round after opponent Taylor Fritz withdrew from their game – the American could lose on his chance to be in Turin for the ATP Finals later this month. Tallon Griekspoor is waiting to find out who he faces next in the French capital – either number 1 seed Novak Djokovic or Tomas Martin Etcheverry from Argentina, after defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets. /BGNES
