carlos alcaraz He already knows his first opponent at the Paris Masters, this week-long tournament. Murcian tennis player Japanese Yoshihito to debut against Nishioka38 in the standings and clearly defeated Russian Aslan Karatsec 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.

Carlos Alcaraz is waiting to find out the time of the battle scheduled for this Wednesday. The 27-year-old will meet the Japanese tennis player for the first time. Murcian shouldn’t have any trouble getting through this first round, even though he’s not overconfident. This is the second time in the world number one to the Paris-Bercy slopes. He was eliminated by Hugo Gaston last year, making it to the last 16.

carlos alcaraz Came to this event in Paris after falling in the semi-finals of the Basel tournament. Canadian Auger Aliassime became his dark beast once again, separating him from his first final since world number one.

Murcian in Bercy and Raphael Nadal They will fight for the crown Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz, who lost in the third round last year, has a few points to defend in Paris. His aim is to consolidate his position to finish the year as No. 1 after the Turin ATP Finals were played in November.

The El Palmar player, who could face Djokovic or Nadal in a hypothetical final, has a particularly tough draw. In the semi-finals, it can be beaten by Auger-Aliassime or world number 4 Russian Daniil Medvedev.

In the quarters, the Pole could be Hubert Hurkacz (10) or the Russian Andrey Rublev (8). And already in the third second round, world number 14 Italian Matteo Berrettini.

“I feel good”

On your own behalf The El Palmar tennis player minimized his knee problems and described it as “normal” for the season finale. Among the Paris Masters’ favourites, he claimed his executioner in Basel was Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, whom he considered “incurable”.

“I’m feeling good, physical problems come to light at the end of the season and that’s normal, you have to deal with them and show the best version,” Alcaraz said at a press conference before going against Japan’s Yoshihito in Paris-Bercy today. Said. nishioka The Spaniard pointed out that “all players had physical problems at the end of the season” and insisted that “it was nothing serious” in his case. Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime were among the favorites of this tournament, where Alcaraz was eliminated by France’s Hugo Gaston in the round of 16 last year.

“Felix is ​​stubborn, although many other players could win this tournament, frankly, I don’t remove myself from that list,” he said with a smile. The Spanish tennis player assured that he would not lose his sleep to finish 2022 as the world champion.