The Paris Master 1.000the last stage of the calendar before the ATP Finals, is the scene of a head to head between Carlos Alcaraz Y Rafael Nadal to define who will close the season as leader of the standings. And even if the Majorcan, second in the standings, has mathematical possibilities to recover that privileged place; Murcian, the current leader, is very well positioned to finish 2022 in the lead. Especially after starting with a solid win in the Accor-Arena.

Alcaraz defeated the Japanese with a double 6-4 Yoshihito Nishioka, 38th, in just an hour and 12 minutes of play. Thus, he moved on to the round of 16 and was one victory away from securing the “1”.

“The debut is never easy. You have to be very focused, you have to try to get a good rhythm and good feelings. I am very happy with my performance, with the level in which I played, and I hope to continue improving in the next round.” , commented Carlitos.

His next match will be against the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov28th, who debuted with a 6-0, 7-5 victory against the Italian Fabio Fogni. If that game wins, the department of Giovanni Carlo Ferrero He will remain at the top until the end of a season that was a consecration for him.

At just 19 years old, Alcaraz was the “player” of the ATP circuit in 2022. No one has won, at least until now, as many titles as he has. he was crowned Rio de Janeiro, the Miami Masters 1,000, Barcelona, the Madrid Master 1.000 Y the US Open. His consecration to New York, his first in a Grand Slam, made him the youngest player in history to reach one. In Paris, he is looking for his sixth title of the year.

What will happen if Murciano lose to Dimitrov? The door will open for Nadal to win back number one. The Majorcan – who made his debut against the American tommy paolo– would need, in this case, to win the title to get back to the top step of the ranking.

The tennis world eagerly awaits the outcome of that fight. Although the two Spaniards have warned that, for them, 1 is not the final goal, but a consequence of good performances on the pitch.

Rafa, the biggest Grand Slam winner in history, arrived in Paris with no competition pace. He played his last official tournament at the US Open (he fell in the round of 16 against Francesca Tiafè) and then took a break to accompany his wife Mery Perello in the last weeks of pregnancy (little Rafa, the couple’s first child, was born in early October. Since being in New York, he has only played one game in the Laver cupthe double that marked the retirement of his eternal rival and friend Roger Federer.

“I don’t think about the pressure of being number one. I just think about giving it my all in every game and every tournament, moving forward with the idea of ​​winning it. We have to keep going,” Alcaraz said.

“I haven’t fought for number 1 in years, I see other goals in my sporting career. And if the results say that he has reached that position, then welcome”, assured Nadal, in a heads-up with Clarín in precedent of the competition.

The 8 of the Masters, defined

The ATP finals in Turin It already has its eight protagonists. The loss of the American Taylor Fritz11th in the standings, 7-5, 5-7 and 6-4 against the French Gilles Simone188 ° and who is playing the last tournament of his career in Paris, has condemned the Canadian ranking Felix Auger Aliassime and Russian Andrea Rublev.

It is that the North American had to reach at least the final to have a chance to keep one of the two tickets up for grabs earlier this week. But he was knocked out of the contest with his second round defeat. So Auger Aliassime, who will clash with Simon in the second round, and Rublev, who will face the Dane Runa Holger in that case they closed the list of participants for Turin.

Who were the top six qualifiers for the tournament, which will be played November 13-20? alcaraz Y Nadalthe Greek Stefanos Tsitsipasthe Norwegian Casper Ruudthe Russian Daniel Medvedev and Serbian Novak Djokovic.