Carlos Alcaraz explains the big issue he was having during his shock defeat to Cameron Norrie in Paris

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Carlos Alcaraz was stunned at the Paris Masters as Cameron Norrie produced one of the performances of his life to overcome the world number one.

All of a sudden, Jannik Sinner is back on course to retain the world number one spot, even if Alcaraz would return to the summit next week once last year’s ATP Finals points come off.

Alcaraz typically has the edge over Sinner in big matches, but there won’t be another big final at the Paris Masters, with the Spaniard sent packing by a resurgent Norrie.

Alcaraz seemed to struggle after taking the first set in Paris, and now he will get an extra period of rest before the ATP Finals, where he will be hoping to bounce back.

• READ MORE: Andrey Rublev shares who is harder to play – Alcaraz or Sinner

Carlos Alcaraz explains the big issue he struggled with against Cameron Norrie

Alcaraz managed to win the first set in this match, and that makes the result all the more surprising and intriguing in equal measure.

Alcaraz is typically renowned for being a bit of a mentality monster when he’s on the court, and when he hits the front, he rarely looks back.

After the match, the inquest naturally started to get underway, and Alcaraz spoke with journalist German R. Abril to discuss what he felt went wrong against Norrie.

He said: “I showed a wrong game strategy for this type of slow court. Things didn’t work out for me. It’s one of the worst matches of the year in terms of feelings. In Miami, it was a physical issue; here, it was different. I didn’t feel the ball well at any moment.”

“I have trained for many days here. I have felt incredible these days. Hitting the ball, moving on the court. Doing everything very cleanly. But today I have felt that I couldn’t do more than what I have done. We have to give credit to Cam, of course, because he hasn’t let me feel good and has been able to come back in the match.”

Carlos Alcaraz stats vs Cameron Norrie

Alcaraz seemed agitated during the final two sets of this match and simply looked to be struggling with the slow nature of the courts in Paris.

Alcaraz doesn’t have a brilliant record on the indoor circuit, and it would appear that it’s an area of weakness for the Spaniard to work upon in the future.

Norrie richly deserved this win, and now, it will be fascinating to see how far he can progress in the tournament as it truly gets into full swing.

For Alcaraz, he needs to dust himself down quickly and place all of his eggs in the basket of winning the ATP Finals when they get underway later this year.