World No 2 Alcaraz was the highest-ranked player in the tournament after Jannik Sinner was forced to withdraw due to a virus, but he suggested the rapid pace of the court in Bercy made it impossible for him to play his best tennis.
Alcaraz has complained about the fast conditions in Paris after his first match against Nicolas Jarry, before he was beaten 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in front of an exuberant Paris crowd who cheered on the Frenchman to the stand-out win of his career so far
While Alcaraz is generally respectful both in victory and defeat, he failed to contain his annoyance after the match as he suggested the conditions in Paris made it impossible to play his best tennis.
“This court… I mean, I don’t want to say something that there is going to sound like an excuse,” said Alcaraz.
“First of all, Ugo deserves to win, that’s obvious, but it depends. Because I play, for example, the Davis Cup indoor court and the court was way slower than this one.
“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 and the fastest one, you know, 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 court from other tournaments and obviously in the same tournament, comparing to other years.
“It surprised me a little bit, so I came here with not too many days. Probably I had to come earlier to get used to these conditions but I didn’t. But, honestly, all I can say is I don’t understand why they did it.”
