Sensational Carlos Alcaraz defeat leaves Novak Djokovic on the brink of iconic record

Carlos Alcaraz crashed to a shocking defeat in his opening match of the Paris Masters event, as his hopes of knocking Novak Djokovic off the top sport in the world rankings took a big blow.

Roman Safiullin sealed the biggest win of his career year by stunning Alcaraz in Paris, as the qualifier recovered an early break in both sets to record a stunning 6-3 6-4 victory.

This was the first time Alcaraz lost in his first match at an event in 2023 and continued his alarming slide in form since his US Open semi-final defeat against Daniil Medvedev in September.

Wimbledon champion Alcaraz lost against Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov in China last month, yet this defeat against Safiullin is the biggest surprise of his year so far, as he was well beaten by the world No 45.

“Since qualies, I was not playing at this level but against Carlos and these Top 10, Top 20 guys, you have to lift up the level,” said Safiullin. “I managed to do it.

“For Carlos, it was not his best performance, but still I’m happy that I can win… Even if he’s not in the best shape it’s tough to beat him. So I’m really happy that I made it.

“Everything against these guys is important. Tactical, physical, the mental part is very important. You need to stay focussed from the beginning to the end and I managed to do that.”

A routine night for Alcaraz looked on the cards when he broke Safiullin in just the third game of the night, but he was immediately broken back and the Russian then went on to take control, breaking again at 4-3 and then serving the first set out.

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Alcaraz made another early move in the second set leading 3-1, but Safiullin again responded and won five of the next six games to cause a big shock by the Seine.

READ MORE: History suggests Novak Djokovic may be vulnerable as he returns to action in Paris

Double faults at inopportune moments and unforced errors littered Alcaraz’s erratic performance, with the rattled look on his face as the match slipped away from him highlighting his concern.

This follows a trend for the 20-year-old Spaniard in recent weeks, who admitted prior to the tournament in Paris that he was nursing an injury.

Alcaraz pulled out of last weekend’s tournament in Basel before appearing to be back on track during an intense practice session against world No 1 Novak Djokovic in Paris on Sunday.

Yet this version of Alcaraz was a long way short of the dynamic winning machine who took the tennis world by storm in the first half of 2023, with steam appearing to be running out of his season in the final stages.

A win in Paris could have given Alcaraz a chance to overtake Djokovic at the top of the ATP rankings, as the game’s two top players are duelling to finish 2023 as No 1.

Djokovic is now guaranteed to reach November 20 as the world No 1, which would mean he will reach a remarkable 399th week at the top of the ATP rankings.

If he makes progress at the Paris tournament this week, Djokovic will have a chance to close in on the year-end world No 1 ranking, but he is likely to need to win at least one round-robin match at the ATP Finals in Turin later this month.

Victory for Djokovic in the Paris event would put him within touching distance of a record-extending eighth year-end world No 1 title, while he would also move through the 400-week mark at the top of the rankings.

That would be another remarkable achievement for the Serbian superstar, who continues to build his legacy with his longevity putting him in a league of his own among the game’s all-time greats.