Carlos Alcaraz, the world number 2, was surprised at the start of the Masters 1000 in Paris by the Russian from qualifying Roman Safiullin (45th) 6-3, 6-4, in the second round of the tournament, Tuesday October 31. Alcaraz, a first-round bye, returned to the competition after giving up playing in Basel the previous week due to his sore left foot and back.

It now remains for the young Spaniard, who has not lifted a trophy since his epic coronation at Wimbledon at the expense of Novak Djokovic in July, to best honor the last major meeting of the season, the Masters which will meet in mid-November the eight best players in the world in Turin (Italy).

“I still have a little discomfort in the sole of my foot, it’s not 100% resolved, but (…) it’s much less present than before,” admitted Carlos Alcaraz on Monday. “It’s the end of the season, which has been very long, demanding, it’s normal for problems to appear, we have to deal with them, play as best as possible while managing these problems,” he added.

Ahead in both rounds

With his initial defeat, Alcaraz is not doing well in his duel with Novak Djokovic for the throne of world number 1 at the end of the season. The Serbian with 24 Grand Slams, who enters Paris with 500 points ahead of the ranking established for the calendar year, must play his first match on Wednesday against the Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry (31st).

Alcaraz had a break lead in both sets on Tuesday evening (2-1 in the first, 3-1 in the second), but each time, he allowed Safiullin to come back. And the resistance of the 26-year-old Russian, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in July, ended up getting the better of him.

After his elimination in the semi-finals at the US Open in September, where he had been crowned for the first time in a Grand Slam a year earlier, Alcaraz had already not shone during the Asian tour, limiting to a semi-final in Beijing (lost to Sinner) and a round of 16 at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai (beaten by Dimitrov).

In the round of 16, an all-Russian duel against Karen Khachanov (16th) now awaits Safiullin.