Following his unexpected loss against Ugo Humbert, Carlos Alcaraz attacked the Paris Masters organizers.
After Jannik Sinner was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a virus, world No. 2 Alcaraz was the highest-ranked player. However, he said that the fast-paced Bercy surface prevented him from playing his best tennis.
After his first match against Nicolas Jarry, in front of a boisterous Paris audience that supported the Frenchman to the most impressive victory of his career to date, Alcaraz grumbled about the quick conditions in Paris. He lost 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
Even though Alcaraz usually shows respect in both wins and losses, he couldn’t control his frustration after the match when he implied that the Parisian weather prevented him from playing his best tennis.
“This court… Alcaraz remarked, “I mean, I don’t want to say something that will sound like an excuse.”
“First and foremost, it is clear that Ugo deserves to win, but it depends. For instance, the Davis Cup indoor court, where I play, was far slower than this one.
“The statistics showed that it is the quickest court in the Masters 1000, most likely on the tour at the moment, when I played the opening match. This is absurd. I’m not sure. Probably the fastest one in this competition in the past ten years, you know.
Therefore, I’m not sure why they do it. I’m not sure why, in contrast to previous years, they switched the court for this event and clearly inside the same competition.
It took me a little by surprise, so I didn’t come here for too long. I probably should have arrived sooner to acclimate to these conditions, but I didn’t. All I can say, though, is that I don’t understand why they did it.
“I mean, it is very difficult to play in these conditions,” Alcaraz continued, adding that he should have arrived in Paris a bit earlier to acclimate to the situation.
“I try to adapt as much as I can to this court and this speed for myself and my level. It doesn’t work with my game, even though I assumed it would.
“When I play against someone like Ugo, he probably plays really flat every time at 100%, and he doesn’t let you get rhythm into the match.” I was therefore unable to play tennis well.
“I practice at home, but the court isn’t what I had assumed. I was somewhat startled by everything, but I wasn’t surprised by my skill level or game.
On an exciting evening in Paris, a joyful Humbert had a drastically different opinion as he celebrated the most memorable win of his career.
“It’s the greatest moment I’ve ever experienced on a tennis court, and it’s the most exquisite triumph of my career. “It’s amazing,” the world No. 18 stated. “I prepare for that. For that, I practice. In the third set, I told myself this again.
“I didn’t want last year’s events to happen again. I also gave the match against Zverev some attention, and it strengthened me.
I adore tennis because of this. I don’t want to tell you what will happen or make any predictions. I make an effort to really enjoy each moment.
I came to Bercy in order to experience this type of match and passion. Anything is possible when things are like that. I don’t want to answer that question, but I’m not sure how far I’ll go.