Early exit for top-ranked Alcaraz at Paris Masters as he loses to Norrie in second round

PARIS (AP) — Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz looked out of rhythm in his 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to unseeded Cameron Norrie in the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday.

The six-time Grand Slam winner even had an animated discussion with a coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after losing the second set.

“I’m really disappointed about my level,” Alcaraz said. “I didn’t feel well today. A lot of mistakes.”

Norrie sealed victory on his second match point with a strong first serve that Alcaraz returned long. It was his first career win against a No. 1-ranked player.

Alcaraz made 54 unforced errors and won only 64% of his first-serve points as he slipped to a third loss in eight matches against Norrie. It was their first meeting indoors.

The defeat also ended Alcaraz’s 17-match winning run in Masters events and means second-ranked Jannik Sinner will move to the top of the ATP rankings if he wins the tournament. Sinner plays Zizou Bergs on Wednesday.

Alcaraz has won eight titles this season — including three Masters tournaments to go with the French Open, thanks to a big comeback, and the U.S. Open.

He was at a loss to explain this defeat.

“I had a lot of practices (where) I was feeling great, feeling amazing, moving on the court, hitting the ball. I had all the ideas clear, all the goals clear,” he said. “Even in the first set, even that I won, I just felt like I could do much more. I tried in the second set just to be better, but it was totally the opposite.”

He praised Norrie.

“I have to give credit to Cam,” Alcaraz said. “He didn’t let me stay or come back (in)to the match.”

Norrie next faces the winner of Wednesday’s match between cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech.

Vacherot beat 14th-seeded Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-3 in the first round earlier on Tuesday. Vacherot faces Rinderknech a little more than two weeks after beating him in the Shanghai Masters final. Vacherot made an against-the-odds run from qualifying in China to win his first career tournament and soar into the top 40.

Preparations will be a little different this time.

“We’ll stay in our own bubbles. We’re cousins, yes, but we’re not on the same team so we’re not going to have dinner together tonight,” said Vacherot, who is from Monaco.

“In Shanghai we had breakfast together, we warmed up together, because we were far from everyone and everywhere,” Vacherot added. “(This time) all our families are here so we’ll stick to our sides, and I hope that we’re going to deliver a wonderful match.”

Fifth-seeded American Ben Shelton reached the third round with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Flavio Cobolli. He faces Andrey Rublev next. In the late match, fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz played Aleksandar Vukic.

In remaining first-round play, there were wins for ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 11 Daniil Medvedev.

New venue

The indoor tournament moved from its long-standing home at the Bercy Arena — which hosted the men’s and women’s basketball finals at last year’s Paris Olympics — to La Défense Arena. The multisport venue is home to a rugby team and fans here witnessed swim star Léon Marchand’s gold-medal rush at the Paris Games, as well as a Taylor Swift concert in May last year.

Sinner appreciates it.

“It’s much more comfortable. Bigger center court and also court 1 and court 2 (are) great courts,” the four-time Grand Slam champion from Italy said. “We have some great facilities where we can practice.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis