Carlos Alcaraz announced he would compete in Paris and Turin, exciting his followers! The young Spaniard withdrew from Basel owing to left foot plantar fasciitis and lower back muscle exhaustion.
Carlos is 500 ATP points behind Novak Djokovic for the year-end no.1 ranking heading into the Paris Masters and ATP Finals. Both events will feature two great rivals, so we may see another thriller. Alcaraz won his second Major at Wimbledon after falling behind in recent months.
Alcaraz had an opportunity to pass Novak Djokovic in the ATP Race during his maiden trip to China.
Instead, the young Spaniard left Beijing and Shanghai with 270 ATP points, five wins, and no hope of reaching the year-end no. 1. First competing since the US Open, Alcaraz lost to Jannik Sinner in the Beijing semi-final, losing ground in the second set and hoped for a better run in Shanghai.
A loss to Grigor Dimitrov early in the Shanghai Masters cost the young gun the chance to contend for 1000 ATP points and the ATP Race lead. The Spaniard lost to the Bulgarian 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in 2:10.
Alcaraz won the first set's last stage but lost sets two and three. Grigor won a rare top-2 match with four breaks from five chances.
Due to injuries, Alcaraz withdrew from Basel and had a few days off. The teenager is back preparing hard to battle Djokovic in the upcoming events for 2500 ATP points!