The Palais Polyvalent in Paris witnessed, absorbed, a surprising loss, that of Carlos Alcaraz to Ugo Humbert. A tennis player who had barely scratched a set in his two previous matches, both in favor of the Murcian, but whose current performance, imposing from the start, melted the Spanish tennis player (6-1, 3-6, 7 -5) who says goodbye to an unfortunate tournament for him.
We remember the stormy evening against Hugo Gaston three years ago, where he lost seven consecutive matches to slip 5-0 in favor, or the abdominal problems two years ago, or the physical fatigue of the last year against Safiullin. This season, he arrived at the Masters 1000 in Paris with the certainty that the scenario would be different.
But Paris-Bercy is not easy for the Murcian, nor is the indoor format. None of its 16 titles has passed under the roof of the court. Alcaraz has the resources to perform in any situation, but for the moment, two intangibles are resisting him: playing indoors and performing well in the home stretch of the season.
“Last year, when I got to the last tournament, I was probably tired, I didn’t play the way I wanted to. But this time I feel different. I know what I have to do. I have been working very well lately. “I am ready to get a good result here, or at least to go further than a year ago, which is not very difficult…” emphasized the Murcian.
