Has Carlos Alcaraz’s surprising Paris Masters loss almost confirmed Novak Djokovic as the year-end No. 1? 

Carlos Alcaraz trails by 500 points in the live rankings.

Has Carlos Alcaraz’s surprising Paris Masters loss almost confirmed Novak Djokovic as the year-end No. 1? 

Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic (Images via Eurosport, ATP Tour)

Spanish tennis ace Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shocking defeat against Roman Safiullin in his second-round match which was his first (Alcaraz got a bye in the first round) at the ATP Paris Masters. The World No.2 lost 6-3, 6-4 to the Russian. With this defeat, Alcaraz not only got knocked out of the last ATP 1000 tournament of the season, but he also blew his chances to finish as the year-end No.1 for a second consecutive year. 

Although Alcaraz is not completely out of the race considering the ATP Finals is still due to be played, the Spaniard stands a little chance of toppling Novak Djokovic who is at the top of the leaderboard at the moment. 

YouTube video

The Serbian is 500 points ahead of Alcaraz in the live race rankings and stands a chance to extend this lead to 1495 points if Djokovic lifts his seventh title in Paris. In such a scenario, Alcaraz will not have much to go after the Serb. However, in case the 36-year-old fails to reach the finals in Paris and has a shambolic show in Turin as well, Carlos Alcaraz can pip Djokovic and finish as the YE No.1. 

FS Video

How can Carlos Alcaraz still finish as year-end No.1?

Carlos Alcaraz seems to have severely dented his chances of leaving behind Novak Djokovic in the race to finish as the year-end No.1 with an early exit in Paris. Nevertheless, the Spaniard still has an outside chance to go above Djokovic in the leaderboard. 

Carlos-Alcaraz-year-end-no.1
Carlos Alcaraz (Image via ATP Tour)

An early exit in Paris means Carlos Alcaraz can enter one of the ATP 250 events in Metz and Sofia as a wildcard. Meanwhile, he would hope for Djokovic to not reach the finals in Paris and then win the title. In case of a third-round exit, Djokovic will only add 90 points to his total points while Alcaraz winning the ATP 250 tournament will fetch him crucial 250 points. 

After this, the two players will enter the ATP Finals with Alcaraz having 8605 points and Djokovic having 9035 points to his credit. From hereon, it will depend on Alcaraz on how far he manages to go into the tournament. The Spaniard will want to reach the semifinals at the least while hoping for Djokovic to have a group exit. 

However, the chances for the same look bleak with injury troubling Alcaraz. The Spaniard had confessed before his first match at the Paris Masters that he was not fully fit yet. Now, it is to be seen if Alcaraz uses this early exit in Paris to his strength or if it puts him off the track.

In case you missed!