At the Paris Masters, Carlos Alcaraz had yet another dismal tournament, which would have an impact on his ranking the following week.
A few weeks ago, Alcaraz’s chances of surpassing Jannik Sinner at the top of the rankings before the season finished were dashed. Since Novak Djokovic in 2015, the Italian became the player with the fastest year-end No. 1 ranking.
The best Alcaraz can do is finish 2024 at number two. If he had performed well at the Paris Masters, he may have put himself in a strong position to accomplish that. A victory in the French city would have nearly assured the No. 2 ranking at the conclusion of the year.
Last week, the four-time Grand Slam champion jeopardized his spot by declining to compete in the Swiss Indoors in Basel and the Vienna Open. However, Alexander Zverev, ranked third, was unable to capitalize and lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the Vienna Open quarterfinal.
One of the weaker competitions in Alcaraz’s career thus far has been the Paris Masters. He had never advanced past the quarterfinals, but prior to this year’s competition, he informed his opponents that he felt different.
Though he defeated Nicolas Jarry in his first match, Alcaraz described the court as slippery and lacked the audacity and assurance he displayed in his remarks prior to the year’s last Masters 1000 tournament.
Then, in the round of 32, Ugo Humbert put on an amazing show against him. Alcaraz fell 1-6, 6-3, 5-7 despite playing marginally better than he did against Jarry.
The Spaniard later voiced his displeasure with the court once more, claiming that it was impossible to adequately prepare in advance and that he did not understand why the organizers had made it so much faster than in past years.
Alcaraz will now concentrate on the ATP Finals, which begin on November 10. To keep the French Open winner from being unprepared again, Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, created a court at his academy that is comparable to the one that would be used at the competition.
After his loss, Zverev was given an opportunity to pass Alcaraz. He defeated Arthur Fils and Tallon Griekspoor in his first two games. After a horrible call by the umpire during his match against Fils, the Frenchman became enraged.
In a stunning victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, the German advanced to the semifinals, where he will face Holger Rune, the 2022 champion in Paris. Zverev was competing for more than just a spot in the championship match; defeating Rune would secure his spot at number two in the rankings the following week.
Taking advantage of the chance, he defeated the Dane 6-3, 7-6, in his best performance of the tournament. In the live rankings, he now has 7365 points, 155 more than Alcaraz, who has 7210.
If Zverev wins the final against Ugo Humbert, he may move 350 points ahead of Alcaraz. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up has to control a boisterous home crowd in order to accomplish it.
Regardless of the outcome of the 2024 Paris Masters final, the world No. 2 ranking will be determined at the ATP Finals.