World number two, Carlos Alcaraz, faced a surprising setback in the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday, falling to a 6-3, 6-4 loss against Russia’s Roman Safiullin. Alcaraz, the Wimbledon champion, appeared out of form as he returned to action following his withdrawal from the Swiss Indoors championships due to injury last week.
The 20-year-old Spaniard struggled in the first set, despite an early break, conceding it to Safiullin. However, Alcaraz seemed to rally in the second set, breaking Safiullin’s serve to take a 3-1 lead.
Nevertheless, Safiullin, a 26-year-old Russian, maintained his momentum and secured what is undoubtedly the most significant victory of his career. This result dealt a blow to Alcaraz’s aspirations of closing the gap on Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings, with the top-ranked Serbian scheduled to compete next against Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry.
The Paris Masters witnessed another setback as the ninth seed, Taylor Fritz, withdrew before his second-round match against Daniel Altmaier due to an abdominal injury. This withdrawal puts his prospects of an ATP Finals berth in jeopardy, as Denmark’s sixth seed, Holger Rune, may eliminate him from contention should he defeat Dominic Thiem in the second round.
Meanwhile, the German 10th seed, Alexander Zverev, overcame a sluggish start to prevail over Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in a three-set battle, moving closer to securing his place at the ATP Finals in Turin. Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the 11th seed, also kept his Finals hopes alive by notching a hard-fought victory over American Sebastian Korda.
In an intense encounter, Argentine Francisco Cerundolo saved a match point and rallied from a two-game deficit in the third set to defeat local favorite Gael Monfils. Russia’s 16th seed, Karen Khachanov, advanced to the third round with a win over Serbia’s Laslo Djere in straight sets.
