World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz surprisingly lost in his first match at the 2023 Paris Masters, as an inspired Roman Safiullin from Russia bested him.
The Russian is a very talented player, and this year, he already managed to beat Alexander Zverev, but also the likes of Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov. Therefore, Alcaraz knew that he's not facing an easy opponent, and he quickly recognized that also in the match.
The 20-year-old is in a world no. 1 fight with his rival Novak Djokovic, and he often spoke about his motivation to overtake the Serbian. After a small break from competing, both returned to the tennis court on the same day, as Djokovic won in doubles earlier on the day.
However, the Spanish player didn't have a happy return to the tennis court. Early on, things went as planned, as Alcaraz broke his opponent's serve and led 2-1 in the opening set of the second-round match.
Yet, Safiullin showed his opponent that he came to win, and he immediately broke the two-time Grand Slam champion back. After that, the Russian managed to add one more break of serve, and eventually, he won the opening set 6-3.
The second set followed a very similar storyline. Initially, the Spaniard had two break points already in the second game, but after those remained unused, he broke his opponent's serve in the fourth game, leading 3-1.
But once again, the world no. 45 broke back immediately, and also this time, he added one more break, winning four consecutive games to lead 6-3, 5-3 against one of the biggest favourites to win the tournament.
Alcaraz managed to stop his streak of consecutive games won, by cutting the deficit to 5-4, yet Safiullin had a chance to serve out the match in the tenth game of the second set.
Despite facing enormous pressure, which came from the fact that he could have achieved his biggest career win, the Russian managed to do that, winning the match 6-3, 6-4, and stunning the second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz.
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