Carlos Alcaraz blasts court speed after Paris Masters exit

"[These courts are] really fast for me," World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz said in the lead-up to his Paris Masters Round of 16 match against Ugo Humbert on Thursday. 

The Spaniard was not lying, as he got steamrolled by Humbert, 6-1, in the first set, before recuperating to win the second set to force a decider. However, he never truly found his rhythm, making a ton of uncharacteristic mistakes in his upset loss to the Frenchman.

After the loss, Alcaraz launched a scathing attack directed at the organizers of the Masters 1000 event in Paris.

"I don’t want to say something that is going to sound like an excuse. You know, first of all, Ugo deserves to win, that’s obvious. But it depends," Alcaraz said, via The Tennis Gazette. "Because I play, for example, the Davis Cup indoor court, and the court was way slower than this one. So, I mean, when I played the first match, the stats came out that it is the fastest court in the Masters 1000, probably on the tour right now. 

"This is crazy. I don't know. Probably the fastest one in the last ten years in this tournament. So 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, comparing to other years."

Alcaraz added he was "surprised" when he landed in Paris and noticed the quickness of the courts, suggesting the change in conditions hampered his preparation for the event. The four-time major winner said he "gave everything" and "fought until the last point."

With Jannik Sinner (illness) and Alcaraz out, World No. 3 Alexander Zverev is now the highest-ranked player left in the Paris Masters. The German will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinal on Friday. 

Alcaraz will wrap up his 2024 season at the upcoming ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, before heading to Malaga, Spain for the Davis Cup Finals, where he will team up with retiring icon Rafael Nadal for the last time.