Carlos Alcaraz’s struggles at the Paris Masters continued on Tuesday, as he was dumped out of this year’s tournament by Cameron Norrie.
Alcaraz, who has never made it past the quarter-finals in Paris, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.
Consequently, Alcaraz has opened the door for Jannik Sinner to reclaim the world number one spot.
The Spaniard struggled to build any momentum against Norrie, hitting 54 unforced errors in what was a wholly underwhelming performance.
Alcaraz will now look ahead to the ATP Finals, where he will attempt to win his first title at the event.
The 22-year-old’s loss against Norrie was certainly a shock, and one notable coach has suggested how the Spaniard can prevent these losses from occurring in the future.
Patrick Mouratoglou says Carlos Alcaraz ‘has to negotiate with himself and accept to rally more’
Patrick Mouratoglou is one of the most recognisable faces in tennis, due to his lengthy career working with ATP and WTA players.
Most notably, the Frenchman coached Serena Williams between 2012 and 2022 – helping her win 10 Grand Slam titles during that period.
Mouratoglou has also worked with Simona Halep and Holger Rune. Most recently, Mouratoglou coached four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, before parting ways in July.
The 55-year-old, who is a regular commentator on tennis’ current affairs, has reacted to Carlos Alcaraz’s stunning loss in Paris.
On Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “Everyone has a bad day, including the champions. The difference is that the champions win.
“54 unforced errors for Carlos in three sets is way too much. Everybody has days where nothing works the way you want. Even at the top.
“I feel if Carlos was in a Grand Slam he would have found a solution because he would have tried a bit more. He kept playing very high risk tennis.
“On days like this you have to accept that you are going to rally more. Of course, Norrie is a good player but he doesn’t have the shots to hit a lot of winners.
“It’s not easy for those guys to be motivated all year long. Their focus is already on Grand Slams.
If he keeps winning Grand Slams at the rhythm he can potentially become the best of all time. That’s his full focus.
“That’s why I am saying if he was in a Grand Slam, he would have accepted to work, work, work and find a way to win. He didn’t make the unforced errors accepting to rally. He made them going for it and taking a lot of risk.
“That is his game, no doubt about it, but on those days, he has to negotiate with himself and accept to rally more.
“On the days back you have to accept the grind. You have to accept to move a bit back, work the point a bit more, and find a way to win ugly.”
Alcaraz’s best performance at the Paris Masters came in 2022, when he reached the quarter-final stage. He was forced to retire from his match against Holger Rune, who won his first Masters 1000 title at the tournament.
Since then, Alcaraz has lost in the second round twice, and the third round once.
In 2024, Alcaraz was stunned in the second round by Ugo Humbert, who went on to reach the final.
Carlos Alcaraz’s record at the ATP Finals
Carlos Alcaraz is set to join some of his biggest rivals at the year-ending ATP Tour Finals in Turin, Italy.
Like the Paris Masters, Alcaraz has not won the ATP Finals. His best result at the tournament came in 2023, when he reached the semi-final stage before losing to Novak Djokovic.
In 2024, Alcaraz failed to advance past the round robin stage, losing to Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev.
Jannik Sinner won the tournament, picking up 1,500 ATP points in the process.
