Alcaraz shockingly lost in the opening match of Paris Masters

(Dan Tri) - Cameron Norrie caused a big surprise at the Paris Masters when he defeated world number 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the match in the early morning of October 29.

Cameron Norrie caused a huge shock at the Paris Masters when he defeated top seed Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round, thereby claiming his first career win over a world number one and advancing to the third round. The victory was not only a personal milestone for Norrie but could also impact Alcaraz's world number one ranking.

Alcaraz returned to action after winning his eighth title of the season in Tokyo at the end of September, but he was not at his best. The Spaniard made 54 unforced errors and struggled with his movement and timing. Despite winning the first set, Alcaraz was unhappy with his performance and had a heated exchange with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after losing the second set.

Alcaraz was eliminated in the first round at the Paris Masters (Photo: Getty).

The defeat also ended Alcaraz's 17-match winning streak at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, a streak that began in Miami in March. He won titles in Monte Carlo, Rome and Cincinnati during that impressive run.

“It’s amazing, it’s huge for me. I’ve come back from injury. Last year I lost in the first round here. I tried to enjoy my tennis in the second half of the year and I did that. This is the biggest win of my career, the first win against a world number one and especially against the most confident player in the world at the moment. I’m very happy with the way I performed. I had a lot of chances and had to keep working hard. I was able to keep my form and win, so I’m really happy,” Norrie said after the win.

With his eighth loss of the season, Alcaraz is in danger of losing the number one spot in the ATP rankings this week. If Jannik Sinner wins in Paris, he will return to the world number one spot for the first time since the US Open. However, in the race for the PIF's ATP number one ranking of the year, Alcaraz still leads the ATP Live Race to Turin with 2,040 points.

It was Norrie's first defeat of a world number one in five attempts. The left-hander reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 event for the first time since Rome 2023 and matched his best performance in Paris (round 3 in 2021). The 30-year-old, who won the Masters 1000 at Indian Wells in 2021, pumped his fist in the air after sealing victory on the second deciding point before returning to his box to celebrate.

Norrie was excited with his victory over the world number one (Photo: Getty).

“I played a really good first set. I thought it was a close match. He took his chances and I didn’t. I wanted to keep pushing and to be honest it was a very intense match. I had been training with Vasek and told my team that this match would be even harder than the training sessions with Vasek because he always makes them very intense. So I think I felt quite comfortable with that and I wanted to keep pushing. I saw Alcaraz talking a lot to his team and that gave me a lot of confidence,” Norrie said.

The match witnessed many dramatic moments. Norrie made good use of his powerful forehands to make things difficult for Alcaraz, especially in the second set. After losing his serve in the seventh game of the deciding set, Alcaraz could not find his rhythm. Meanwhile, Norrie, with high excitement, saved two important break-points in the next game and maintained his form to win after 2 hours and 22 minutes.

World No. 31: “The game after 4-3 was very important. I saved a couple of break points right there, and then when I served to finish the match, I remembered the walk with the coach this morning when we discussed serving at the crucial moment and what I needed to remind myself. Yesterday, I served too hard in the match against Baez, I was 0/40 down but still managed to win the game. I told myself I deserved this moment and I wanted to be here. It was a great walk and very important.”

In the next round, Norrie will face either Valentin Vacherot or Arthur Rinderknech, who had a magical run at the Shanghai Masters earlier this month when he beat Rinderknech, becoming the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in history (since 1990).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/alcaraz-thua-soc-ngay-tran-ra-quan-paris-masters-20251029080933052.htm