Carlos Alcaraz will not have an easy match today in the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000. The current world number 2 will face local idol Ugo Humbert for a spot in the quarterfinals, but he must be very careful to a player who will benefit from a very strong support from his fans.
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The four-time Grand Slam champion did not express his best tennis against Nicolas Jarry in the second round and does not like these particularly fast conditions, as he admitted himself during the press conference. The last Masters 1000 of the season is very important for Carlitos, who must defend his second position in the ATP ranking from the assault of Alexander Zverev. The 21-year-old from Murcia is aware of the importance of this week ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, which are his main focus in this last part of the season alongside the Davis Cup Finals.
Alcarazs 2024 was a truly excellent race, despite being far from his big rival Jannik Sinner in the ATP Race. The Italian ace has had a monstrous consistency this year, but the Spaniard won two Grand Slam titles, a Masters 1000 and won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics during the summer.
Chardy's advice
The former world number 1 has already defeated Humbert twice this year, at the Wimbledon Championships and in the Davis Cup in September respectively. The first match was the most fought and balanced, with the Frenchman almost taking the Spaniard to the fifth set. Ugo will play without much pressure and the French fans will give him further help to look for the amazing feat.
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In an interview with LEquipe, Jeremy Chardy Humberts coach spoke about the upcoming clash between Ugo and Carlitos at the Paris Rolex Masters: For this match in Bercy, Ugo must not try to overplay. You have to get between playing with Carlos and getting in his face. If he lets him play, he wont win. If he tries to put too much in all the time, he wont win either. In Valencia, he tried too hard. And when he broke, the deal quickly changed...You will have to accept the fight with him and overplay from time to time.
The feeling is that the French has a great chance in this tournament, because in the last part of the season there are more surprising results and the Spanish ace did not seem at the top of his form in his first match against Jarry. "My main goal is to win all the upcoming tournaments. I believe I'm playing great, proud of the season I've had, but I truly aim to win more events. There are only a few weeks left in the season, and I want to take it day by day. I trust in achieving great results, winning here would make me very excited," declared the World No.2.
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He also reflected on the Paris-Bercys courts: "Are they faster than Cincinnati? The truth is that my feeling was that this was the second fastest, behind Cincinnati, but it's noticeable that the ball slides once it bounces. You have to get used to it, but I think it's challenging for the spectators because it's hard to see long rallies. I have to spend hours working on these courts, and I'm feeling good.
Carlitos' beautiful message
Spain, all, is in apprehension for the almost one hundred deaths caused by the Dana in the cityof Valencia. Truly tragic consequences for the population, which is straining to overcome the difficulties caused by the great flood. A situation that did not leave Carlos Alcaraz indifferent: the Spanish tennis player spoke about it in an interview given to the French media, directly from the Paris-Bercy Master 1000 where he continues his adventure towards the title.
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"I will try to help as much as possible. It is a rather complicated time, not only for the affected provinces but for the whole country. I hope this all ends soon. I have seen images and videos, everything that is talked about on social networks, none of this is pleasant for any Spanish citizen", he said in the interview. And again: "There is still a lot of uncertainty, you have to know how much Dana has influenced, know the number of deaths and missing people. It hurts as if I were from that city".
Like Rafael Nadal, Carlitos inevitably hopes that the French capital will become more and more his second home: "Paris is a beautiful city, it has the best tournaments in the world, I always love playing here. The audience is always very affectionate, when Im not playing against the French of course. I love their tennis players very much, they love their people very much. Paris will always have a place in my heart".
