Alcaraz scored a huge hit in Paris

It has not been seen in the previous 72 games. Never Carlos Alcaraz He became very dull and lacking. Without the ability to react, he paid for his worst match of the season, so far, with an early loss at the Paris-Bercy ATP Masters 1000.

He has not been eliminated in any previous debut this year. Nothing to do with going third in Rome against the Hungarian Fabian Maroszan. That was measured for the sake of Roland Garros. Not now. He had a lot to contend with, but it became more of an annoying obligation than an incentive.

It was a nightmare, a day Alcaraz would like to bury forever. He suffered a huge blow, losing to a rival from the previous round, world number 45, the Russian. Roman Safiullin. He won 6-3 and 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes.

This ‘indoor’ in Paris continues to be a nightmare for Alcarazwho cried in 2021 against the French Hugo Gaston through a fiercely hostile crowd to someone who was once a child who was beginning to rise as a star. In 2022 the Murcian left with a stomach injury.

Now he left without knowing what exactly happened to play so badly. He didn’t handle just one ball well. The mistakes accumulated, which undermined his morale until he was convinced that there was no way to win his tennis or the result.

He was ahead 2-1 and served in the first set. They immediately relinquished the advantage, receiving a partial score of 1-5, a definite 0-3. There are green shoots at the beginning of the second, which is confirmed with 3-1 and serve. He fell again, left at the hands of an opponent who was living his professional dream after becoming a champion in his junior era. At the age of 26, he began to enjoy himself, to be like the tennis player who competed as a young man with Karen Khachanovhis new opponent in the round of 16, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.

After being a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon and a finalist at Chengdu, Safiullin signed a very prestigious achievement. It includes three environmental adaptation games, two in the initial phase (Arthur Cazaux and Jordan Thompson) and who defeated Alexandre Muller in the main draw. He pushed the Spaniard, 20 years old and world No. 2, against the ropes, it didn’t help him get out. AND Alcaraz It did work together to gradually sink.

Tennis and mind lock. No spark, sad. Nothing to do with tireless Charly also in difficult moments. 15 winners, 27 unforced errors. And that body language of annoyance, disorientation.

He said goodbye to Paris, certainly also the world number one of the year, who put weight on his legs in the last stage of the course. Semifinalist in Beijing, eighth finalist in Shanghai. Twenty days after giving alarm signals, falling in Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrovworse than Paris.

Inactive, with discomfort in the plantar facia of the left foot and lumbar muscle fatigue, Alcaraz was also handcuffed. He has no trust, no faith. An anonymous student version of Juan Carlos Ferrero, 500 points behind Novak Djokovic, which could establish its leadership by widening the gap in Paris, ahead of the ATP Finals in Turin. The culmination of Alcaraz, from November 12 to 19.