Roman Safiullin beat world number two Carlos Alcaraz at the Rolex Paris Masters

The main sensation of the first two days of the Rolex Paris Masters, held in the French capital of the Masters 1000 category tournament of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) with a prize fund of € 5.8 million, was the victory of Russian Roman Safiullin over the current Wimbledon champion, Spaniard Carlos, who ranks second in the world classification Alcaraz. Having defeated such a titled opponent for the first time in his life, Safiullin, among other things, unwittingly interfered in the fight for the title of the first racket of the world, which Alcaraz is waging with Novak Djokovic. Now the already high chances of the 36-year-old Serb to maintain his leadership until the end of the season and begin his 400th week at the top of the rankings on November 20 have increased even more.

The outcome of this match from the very beginning was not as obvious as many fans of the talent of Carlos Alcaraz would like. Arriving in Paris for the last Masters of the season after a foot injury and not having fully recovered from it, the Spaniard immediately ran into Roman Safiullin, who had never played as well in his life as he had in recent months. In July, he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, won by Alcaraz, in September, in his first final at an ATP tournament in Chengdu, China, he almost defeated Alexander Zverev from Germany, and a week later he beat this German tennis player, who at that time was ranked tenth in the world rankings, a convincing revenge, giving up only four games. Until recently, Safiullin could only dream of such results, although his playing style makes an even stronger impression. The Russian’s tennis is characterized by total aggression, mixed with a powerful serve and an excellent forehand. It is, of course, possible to withstand such hurricane attacks, but first Safiullin’s opponent must shake his self-confidence. This can only be done at the expense of one’s own stability, and this is precisely what Alcaraz lacked in Paris. In his first European match since November last year, he found himself unprepared to face an opponent at his peak.

Events in this meeting developed quite quickly. Having lost his serve in the third game, Safiullin immediately returned it, and then, in an equal and stubborn fight, made another break in the eighth game. He managed to finish the first game in the ninth game with an impeccable approach to the net at the score of 30:15, and then with a clear shot on the counter. Alcaraz’s problems in the first set were most clearly demonstrated by the ratio of actively won points to unforced errors – 3:13. But Safiullin, of course, was still far from victory. After the fourth game of the second set, Alcaraz, who fought with all his might, left with a small lead – 3:1.

This is where the fun began. Having regained his concentration, Safiullin stepped it up again and over and over again began to take advantage of his opponent’s constant difficulties when hitting the backhand. And Alcaraz could not stand it. He started making mistakes again, and he was unlucky on a couple of plays. It is not surprising that Safiullin bounced back quite quickly, and in the seventh game he converted the fourth break point, on which Alcaraz made a mistake when executing a forehand. Having led 4:3, Safiullin could only hold his serve, and some time later, from the second match point after the Spaniard’s next marriage, the 26-year-old Russian, who belongs to the same generation as Daniil Medvedev with Karen Khachanov, Andrei Rublev and Aslan Karatsev, celebrated the most spectacular victory of his career – 6:3, 6:4 in 1 hour 37 minutes.

In the 1/8 finals, the main troublemaker at the Rolex Paris Masters will meet with Khachanov, who earlier beat the Serbian Laszlo Djere in the second round – 6:4, 7:5. But regardless of the result of this match, Safiullin, currently ranked 45th in the world rankings, has every reason to expect to finish the current season in the top 40.

Moreover, his victory over Alcaraz has a serious impact on the fight for leadership in the world classification, which the Spaniard is waging with Novak Djokovic. Before the start of this week, Alcaraz was 500 points behind the Serbian veteran in terms of points scored this season, and at the moment this gap has been reduced by 10 points, which the Spaniard earned simply for getting into the main draw of the Masters. However, since a victory in Paris is worth 1,000 points, Djokovic, who plays his opening match on Wednesday against Argentine Thomas Martin Etcheverry, can remove almost all questions about first place at the end of the year already there. The fact is that at the final Nitto ATP Finals tournament, which starts in Turin on November 12, in the best case scenario you can score 1500 points. That is, Alcaraz will need to take the title there by winning all matches in the group stage, subject to three consecutive defeats by Djokovic.

So far, such an option looks simply unrealistic, so now the Serb’s already high chances of remaining on the top line have increased even more. And unless the 36-year-old Serb suddenly makes a mistake, then on November 20 he will begin his 400th week in first place, celebrating an impressive anniversary. Let us remind you that the Swiss Roger Federer, who is second in this indicator, has 310 leading weeks to his name.

Evgeniy Fedyakov