Carlos Alcaraz endured another disappointing tournament at the Paris Masters, which will affect his ranking next week.
Alcaraz's hopes of overtaking Jannik Sinner before the end of the season at No. 1 ended several weeks ago. The Italian became the fastest player to secure year-end the No. 1 ranking since Novak Djokovic in 2015.
Finishing 2024 at No. 2 is the best Alcaraz can achieve. He could have put himself in a great position to do that if he had gone far at the Paris Masters. Winning the title in the French capital would have come close to guaranteeing the year-end No. 2 spot.
The four-time Grand Slam champion put his place under threat last week by choosing not to play at the Vienna Open or the Swiss Indoors in Basel. But Alexander Zverev, at No. 3, could not take advantage, losing in the Vienna Open quarterfinal to Lorenzo Musetti.
The Paris Masters has been one of the weakest tournaments of Alcaraz's career so far. He has never been past the quarterfinals but warned his rivals before this year's iteration that he felt different this year.
However, despite beating Nicolas Jarry in his opening match, Alcaraz called the court slippery and did not sound as bold or confident as he was during his comments before the final Masters 1000 tournament of the year.
Ugo Humbert then produced an incredible performance against him in the round of 32. Alcaraz actually played slightly better than he did against Jarry but still lost 1-6, 6-3, 5-7.
The Spaniard complained about the court again afterward, saying he did not know why the organizers made it so much faster than in previous years and that it was impossible to prepare effectively beforehand.
Alcaraz's focus now shifts to the ATP Finals, starting November 10th. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz's coach, installed a court similar to the one that will be used at the tournament at his academy to prevent the French Open champion from being unprepared again.
Zverev was given a chance to overtake Alcaraz after his defeat. He won his opening two matches against Tallon Griekspoor and Arthur Fils. His match against Fils included the Frenchman becoming furious after a terrible call by the umpire.
The German impressively overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up a semifinal against the 2022 champion in Paris Holger Rune. Zverev was not just playing for a place in the final: beating Rune would guarantee his place at No. 2 in next week's rankings.
He took advantage of that opportunity by playing his best match of the tournament against the Dane, prevailing 6-3, 7-6. That puts him on 7365 points in the live rankings, 155 points ahead of Alcaraz's 7210.
Zverev could move 350 points ahead of Alcaraz if he defeats Ugo Humbert in the final. To achieve that, the two-time Grand Slam runner-up must manage a vociferous home crowd.
However, the world No. 2 ranking will be decided at the ATP Finals regardless of which man wins the 2024 Paris Masters final.