World No.2 Jannik Sinner has had his say on Carlos Alcaraz’s shock defeat at the Paris Masters. Alcaraz was on a run of nine straight finals before his loss to Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Tuesday’s surprise 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 elimination in the French capital has opened the door for Sinner to reclaim the No.1 ranking from Alcaraz – a position he lost after defeat to the Spaniard in September’s US Open final. Sinner will in turn return to the summit if he wins the title in Paris.
The Italian is through to the semi-finals after wins over Zizou Bergs, Francisco Cerundolo and Ben Shelton. The reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion will face Alexander Zverev on Saturday for a place in Sunday’s final – against either Alexander Bublik or Felix Auger-Aliassime.
And Sinner has reflected on Alcaraz’s loss earlier in the week, which will have given him extra motivation to lift the title in Paris. He also had his say on the playing conditions at the La Defense Arena.
“The playing conditions are completely different from those in Vienna. For me, the most difficult thing is the movement. There are new balls, which travel slower. We’ll see how it goes,” he said, via L’Equipe.
“It’s a difficult tournament, we saw that with Carlos’ elimination. It’s the end of the season.
“The conditions are unique here. I’ve never played well here.
“Every match is difficult. I’m focusing on what I have to do.”
Sinner will end his season at the ATP finals in Turin which begins on November 9. The 24-year-old will hand back the world No.1 ranking to Alcaraz ahead of the season-ending tournament, even if he wins the title in Paris, as he will drop the 1500 points earned by winning last year’s event.
But should Sinner then emerge as an undefeated champion in Italy for the second consecutive year, Alcaraz would need to pick up 450 points at the ATP Finals to end the year as No.1. In that scenario, Alcaraz would need to reach the final with at least one group stage win or go undefeated in group stage play.
Neither player is scheduled to play in the week before the ATP finals, but Alcaraz will feature in the Davis Cup finals after the tournament in Turin ends on November 16. Sinner, however, has opted to miss the event as Italy go in search of a third consecutive title.