“I don’t know why they do it” – Alcaraz gives scathing review of Paris Masters court speed
The Spaniard continues his track record of struggling in Paris
Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic
Carlos Alcaraz has hit out at tournament organisers following his 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 loss to Ugo Humbert at the Paris Masters on Thursday, calling the court speed “crazy” and “surprising”.
“When I play the first match, you know, the stats came out that it is the fastest court in the Masters 1000, probably on the Tour right now,” Alcaraz said after his loss. “This is crazy. I don’t know. Probably and the fastest one, you know, in the last ten years in this tournament.
“I don’t know why they do it. I don’t know why they have changed a lot, you know, a court from other tournaments and obviously in the same tournament, you know, comparing to other years.
“So it surprise me a little bit, so I came here with not too many days. Probably I had to came, you know, earlier to get used to these conditions but I didn’t. But, you know, honestly all I can say is I don’t understand why they did it.”
Alcaraz’s struggles with court speed continue
The Spaniard has a track record of struggling when opponents are able to take time away from him and rush his shots, as Humbert was able to do effectively in their round-of-16 clash thanks to the court speed.
“When I play against someone like Ugo, he doesn’t let you, you know, get rhythm into the match,” Alcaraz explained. “He plays probably, every time at his 100 percent, really flat. So I couldn’t play good tennis.
“It is very difficult to play in these conditions. For me, for my level, I try to change up as much as I can to this court, to this speed. I thought that it suits pretty well to my game, but it doesn’t.
“You know, I practice at home but it isn’t the same court that I thought, you know, that the speed to this court is going to be play the ball. But for me, it doesn’t. So I didn’t surprise about my level, about my game, but I surprise about, you know, everything a little bit.”
The defeat was Alcaraz’s third shock loss at the event in the past three years, losing to Hugo Gaston in 2021 and Roman Safiullin in 2023.
