Alcaraz Warns Rivals About 'Feeling Different' Before 2024 Paris Masters
ATP
The Paris Masters has been one of Carlos Alcaraz's least successful tournaments, but the 21-year-old is confident of going further this year.
Alcaraz's first appearance at the Paris Masters was in 2021. During that tournament, he played his first match against Jannik Sinner, triumphing 7-6, 7-5 against the current world No. 1.
However, the four-time Grand Slam champion lost in the third round against the Frenchman Hugo Gaston in front of a raucous home crowd. Alcaraz became emotional during that match, finding the atmosphere hard to manage as a then 18-year-old.
The Spaniard had a slightly better run to the quarterfinal in 2022. He did not drop a set in victories against Yoshihito Nishioka and Grigor Dimitrov but had to retire from the second set of his quarterfinal against Holger Rune.
Alcaraz's most disappointing result in Paris was last year. The two-time Wimbledon winner fell 3-6, 4-6 to the qualifier Roman Safiullin in the second round after one of his worst performances in the last two years.
The Paris Masters is played on indoor hardcourts, and Alcaraz has yet to reach an ATP Final at any indoor tournament. It is the only set of conditions under which he has yet to prove himself.
His previous struggles on indoor courts are why Roger Federer's former coach, Ivan Ljubicic, thinks Alcaraz is not the biggest threat to Sinner at the 2024 ATP Finals. He places Alexander Zverev ahead of Alcaraz.
Despite not mastering indoor hardcourts yet, Alcaraz's colossal talent and young age mean he has ample time to improve in those conditions. Richard Gasquet thinks the 2022 US Open winner will become another Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Alcaraz also does not seem overly concerned by his record at the final Masters 1000 tournament of the ATP season. In a press conference, he said tiredness had contributed to his previous results in Paris.
"Well, yeah. I haven't played good tennis here in this tournament. Probably at the end of the year, I have been tired, or yeah, as I said last year, I had to understand that the season is still going after September."
The Spaniard expects this year to be different. He has been preparing well for the tournament and does not think going farther than last year will be difficult for him.
"And I think I did prepare really well this year. So I don't know, you know. The calendar is super tight, super demanding, as well. So coming to the last tournament of the year, probably I have been tired the last year, didn't play as well as I wanted, but coming to this year, I think I'm feeling different."
"I know what I have to do. I have been doing great work lately. So I think I'm ready to do good results or at least fo farther than last year, that I think is not really difficult."
Alcaraz's confidence seems high, and he can extend his lead at No. 2 in the rankings over Alexander Zverev with a deep run at the 2024 Paris Masters.
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