Norrie win sends Brit into test against Alcaraz

Cam Norrie ended the season for Sebastien Baez 6-3, 6-4 on Monday to set up a second-round clash with top seed Carlos Alcaraz at the Paris Masters.

The Brit who has never been past the third round in the capital, earned an opening-day win as the event shifted across town to the massive La Defense arena after three decades in the east of the capital at Bercy.

Norrie, ranked 31st, trails world No. 1 Spaniard Alcaraz 2-5 in their career series, earning his upset wins in 2022 at Cincinnati and a year later at Rio.

Alcaraz, his hair still dyed chrome-silver, has been getting used to conditions at the new venue, was also complaining about the intensity and frequency of the crowded ATP tournament calendar

He flew to Paris after skipping the Shanghai Masters but making sure to front up for a payday of several million dollars at the Saudi exhibition held this month in the kingdom.

Alcaraz still launches complaints about scheduling, which are sure to grow in intensity now that the ATP has awarded the cash-rich Saudis a non-mandatory Masters date starting in 2028.

Paris has been hit by player pullouts, with Novak Djokovic skipping the last week of the regular ATP season while 2022 winner here Holger Rune is rehabbing after an ankle operation.

French ace Ugo Humbert, the 2024 runner-up to Alexander Zverev, withdrew injured on Monday after quitting a semi-final match last weekend in Basel.

Alcaraz said a crowded calendar is a recipe for more injuries but he’s vague on possible solutions for players.

“I don’t have an exact amount of matches that we should play. I mean, I can’t answer with a (precise) number. But obviously they (ATP) have to do
something with the calendar.

“The amount of tournaments that we have to play I think is too high. We don’t have a good period of time that we can practice, we can rest.

“Even during the season, I think it’s week after week after week; we don’t have the chance to have a week just to prepare pretty well the tournaments or what we have ahead in the season.”

He concluded: “I will think about the amount of matches that we should play, and I’m gonna comment later.”