Carlos Alcaraz bids to win his first Paris Masters title this week, having never been past the quarter-finals in Bercy.
The Spaniard has never played his best tennis at the Paris Masters (5-5), but is keen to change that in 2026, as he enters the tournament as the second seed. Alcaraz will begin his Paris Masters campaign on Wednesday, November 4, against Alex Michelsen or Jiri Lehecka.
Speaking to the media before his opening match, Alcaraz shared what he has heard other players say about the court conditions in Paris and responded when asked why he often struggles at the event.
"Well, I talked with some players, and they told me it's a little bit faster than last year. I watched a couple of games from [Rafael] Jodar's match today, and the ball seems to react a little bit different from last year, a little bit faster. But let's see. I haven't tried yet," said Alcaraz during his pre-tournament press conference.
Alcaraz is expecting different conditions at the Paris Masters this year, and that could be good news for the world number three. He has only won five matches at the event throughout his career, and isn't too sure why he's struggled as much as he has in Paris.
"Well, I don't know. I don't know, to be honest. Yeah, it's a bit, I'm going to say, yeah, weird, because we've seen, you know, the rest of the tournaments. At some point, I have played, you know, good tennis here; the part that I played, I would say, was the quarter-finals against Holger [Rune], and I haven't played my best tennis here," said Alcaraz.
| Tournament |
Best performance |
Win/Loss record |
Win % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Wells |
Champion – 2023, 2024 |
24-4 |
86% |
| Miami Open |
Champion – 2022 |
14-5 |
74% |
| Monte Carlo Masters |
Champion – 2025 |
9-2 |
82% |
| Madrid Open |
Champion – 2022, 2023 |
15-2 |
88% |
| Italian Open |
Champion – 2025 |
7-1 |
88% |
| Canadian Open |
Quarter-final – 2023 |
2-2 |
50% |
| Cincinnati Open |
Champion – 2025 |
12-4 |
75% |
| Shanghai Masters |
Quarter-final – 2024 |
6-3 |
67% |
| Paris Masters |
Quarter-final – 2022 |
5-5 |
50% |
Carlos Alcaraz's Masters 1000 record
"Any specific reason for that? I'm not sure. There were some years that I came here not feeling 100%, especially mentally. But there were some years that I felt well; I felt I really wanted to be here playing at my best. I was excited about playing here and ended up losing in the first or second round, not playing good tennis.
"So not any specific reason for that, but, you know, I'm pretty sure at some point I will do great in this tournament, I will feel the way that I want to feel in this tournament, and it will happen sooner rather than later."
2021 Paris Masters 1R [WIN] vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5
2021 Paris Masters 2R [WIN] vs Jannik Sinner, 7-6, 7-5
2021 Paris Masters 3R [LOSS] vs Hugo Gaston, 4-6, 5-7
2022 Paris Masters 2R [WIN] vs Yoshihito Nishioka, 6-4, 6-4
2022 Paris Masters 3R [WIN] vs Grigor Dimitrov, 6-1, 6-3
2022 Paris Masters QF [LOSS] vs Holger Rune, 3-6, 6-6 (RET)
2023 Paris Masters 2R [LOSS] vs Roman Safiullin, 3-6, 4-6
2024 Paris Masters 2R [WIN] vs Nicolas Jarry, 7-5, 6-1
2024 Paris Masters 3R [LOSS] vs Ugo Humbert, 1-6, 6-3, 5-7
2025 Paris Masters 2R [LOSS] vs Cameron Norrie, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6
Alcaraz has lost four of his last five matches at the Paris Masters, but remains confident that he can turn things around. Having made a change to his serve recently that guided him to the Vienna Open title, he may do just that.
"Well, I have seen the best players in the world, in history. Obviously, it's about the height, you know, like how tall you are. It's even an issue when you're taller. But the balance of the serve – the best server in the world in history has that balance, you know, from the back to go forward," he said.
"I wasn't able to do that before that, so I change a little bit the motion. I changed a little bit, and I try to have more balance and, you know, it's the movement of the serve been a little bit smoother, and I would say that the toss of the ball and the balance is everything on the serve. So I could say I did a great job, and I have been feeling much better on the serve, and I think Vienna we could see a great improvement on that shot. So I'm just really happy about it."
Alcaraz served well in Vienna, as he defeated Karen Khachanov, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Tommy Paul, Daniil Medvedev, and Alex de Minaur to win the 28th title of his already-legendary career.
During his pre-tournament press conference, Alcaraz was asked whether he believed he had figured out how to play indoors, having just won the title in Vienna ahead of the Paris Masters.
"Well, I don't know. I feel like every indoor [tournament] is different. You know, it's different conditions, different everything. You can feel a certain way, playing a week in Vienna, whatever it is, and going the next week to another place and feeling completely different," he said.
"I'm going to practice tomorrow. I'm going to try to feel myself again in a good way, try to feel the ball the best that I can, and give myself a great shot on Wednesday to deliver great tennis, to feel great on court, and let's see. But what I know right now is that, mentally, I've got to be strong with the difficulties that I might face in the first round, but let's see what's going to happen this week."
Alcaraz has twice lost his opening match at the Paris Masters. Only time will tell if he can avoid adding a third shocking defeat to his resume when he plays Lehecka or Michelsen in the second round.
