Carlos Alcaraz made his debut at the Paris Masters in 2021, but he ended up getting knocked out by a qualifier.
The World No. 1 has already arrived at the Paris Masters, after skipping the Vienna Open and the Swiss Indoors, and he will be looking for his first win at the French 1000 tournament.
Alcaraz’s last tournament was the Six Kings Slam, but he’s now focused on ATP events in Paris and Turin as he looks to hold onto his World No. 1 status.
The Spaniard’s debut appearance at the tournament saw him play Jannik Sinner for the first time, and then crash out to a player now ranked outside the top 100.
Carlos Alcaraz’s strange first Paris Masters appearance
Alcaraz’s appearance at the 2021 Paris Masters saw the Spaniard make an unseeded entry at the Masters tournament.
The Spaniard faced a tricky test against wild card Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round, who he beat in three sets.
Alcaraz was drawn against Jannik Sinner for the first time ever at an ATP-level event next, and he managed to topple his future rival.
The teenager narrowly defeated Sinner in straight sets to earn a third round tie with qualifier Hugo Gaston.
Gaston overcame Alcaraz in straight sets, which was a slight surprise even at the time. Looking back, it’s an even more bemusing result.
Alcaraz has, of course, surged up the rankings to World No. 1, while Gaston has free-fallen outside the top 100.
The Frenchman is currently ranked World No. 106, with a career-high ranking of World No. 56 in July 2022.
Carlos Alcaraz’s bizarre record at the Paris Masters
There aren’t many tournaments that Alcaraz has played multiple times where he holds a poor record, but the Paris Masters is certainly one of them.
Alcaraz has played the tournament four times, and his best performance is a quarter-final appearance in 2022.
The star was forced to withdraw against Holger Rune, who was the eventual winner of the tournament, and he’s suffered early exits since.
Alcaraz lost in his opening round in 2023 against qualifier Roman Safiullin and he only managed the third round in 2024.
The Spaniard was beaten by Ugo Humbert at last year’s event as the Frenchman reached the semi-final on home soil.
