Carlos Alcaraz struggled to explain his defeat to Cameron Norrie in a worrying assessment of his surprise Paris Masters exit. The young Spaniard went into the match as the overwhelming favourite to progress but was undone by his British rival over three sets. The result marked the biggest shock of the tournament so far and landed Norrie the biggest win of his eight-year professional career.
Alcaraz was visibly frustrated at times during the match and broke into an argument with his coach at one point. Watching the exchange unfold from the commentary booth, Sky Sports pundit Naomi Broady said: “They’re literally just arguing.” Alcaraz was unable to regain his best form as Norrie took control in the final set to earn a surprise 4-6 6-3 6-4 triumph.
Speaking after coming off the court, Alcaraz blamed his poor choice of gameplan as he reflected on his defeat in the French capital.
“I showed a wrong game strategy for this type of slow court,” he said. “Things didn’t work out for me. It’s one of the worst matches of the year in terms of feelings. In Miami it was a physical issue, here it was different. I didn’t feel the ball well at any moment.”
Quizzed on why he felt that way, Alcaraz replied: “I don’t know. I trained a lot here. I felt very good. I felt really great. I was moving well on the court. I felt the ball.
“My ideas were very clear, as were my goals. But today, even in the first set, although I won it, I felt like I could do much better than I had. I tried to improve in the second set. It was the opposite: I played even worse.”
Alcaraz also reserved some kind words for Norrie, who fully deserved to win after stepping up when it mattered in the final set.
“I also think you have to give Cameron his dues, he fought really well during the match, he scored some very good points,” added the Spaniard.
“He also made some balls that I could have returned, but I didn’t take the opportunities. And that’s it, things are what they are.”
Norrie spoke of his delight in his on-court interview, saying: “So big for me. I’ve been coming back with my injury last year. I lost first round qualies here last year, so just tried to enjoy my tennis the second half of the year.
“I was able to do that and to get a win like this. Biggest win of my career, my first win over a world No 1 and especially over probably the most confident player in the world right now, him and [Jannik] Sinner combined.
“But I was just so pleased with the way I did it, having a lot of chances and having to keep pushing and keep going for more and I was able to stay tough and get the win, so I’m really pleased.”
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