World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz came to the 2025 Rolex Paris Masters on the back of his eighth title win this season in Tokyo, looking to build on an incredible year. The Spanish superstar faced Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the second round on Tuesday, but nobody expected what happened next.
Alcaraz was simply off the pace from the start, battling issues he couldn’t solve. Tennis coach Rick Macci spoke about the issues the Spaniard faced during the match on social media, giving a better look at the problem.
Rick Macci’s Words on Carlos Alcaraz’s Loss at the Rolex Paris Masters
Norrie beat Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round at Paris. This was Norrie’s first win ever over a world No. 1, and the 31st-ranked Brit made sure to make it count. Alcaraz returned after missing three weeks with an ankle injury in Shanghai, which showed almost immediately.
Alcaraz took the first set but fell apart immediately after that. In the second set, Norrie capitalized on his mistakes, hitting 19 unforced errors with just seven winners. His aggravation got worse as the match went on, and he had words with his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, after losing the second set. Norrie kept playing solid tennis and saved important break points in the final set before closing it out in two hours and 22 minutes.
Alcaraz hit 54 unforced errors during the match, compared to just 18 by Norrie, and the famous coach Macci caught it immediately. On X, Macci wrote exactly what happened: “Carlos was a half step slow. His movement was way off and the wildcard for any player. When you do not move correctly you miss your bread and butter shots and make 54 unforced errors. Needs ankle to be 100%.”
Carlos was a half step slow. His movement was way off and the wildcard for any player. When you do not move correctly you miss your bread and butter shots and make 54 unforced errors. Needs ankle to be 100%. @carlosalcaraz
— Rick Macci (@RickMacci) October 29, 2025
After the match, the Spaniard expressed his disappointment, saying, “I’m really disappointed about my level today. I had all the ideas clear, all the goals clear, but today, even in the first set which I won, I felt I could do a lot more than I actually did. I didn’t feel well today. A lot of mistakes. I had no feeling at all.”
This loss ended his 17-match winning run at Masters 1000 events, dating back to Miami in March, whereas Norrie earned the biggest win of his career. “Massive, so big for me,” Norrie said. “To get a win like this, the biggest of my career, my first over a world No. 1 and probably the most confident player in the world right now.”
This was Alcaraz’s first loss before a final since March this year. He’s never won at the Rolex Paris Masters in five attempts, and this result added to that struggle.
Alcaraz dropped 90 points, going from 11,340 to 11,250. Still, the bigger issue is that Jannik Sinner now has a real shot at No. 1. Sinner sits at 10,510 points and needs to win the Paris Masters to jump back to World No. 1 on Nov. 3, the spot he lost after losing the US Open last month.
Alcaraz still leads Sinner by 2,040 points for the year-end race, but the ATP Finals in two weeks can change everything. Sinner is defending his full 1,500 points from last year’s undefeated run, while Alcaraz is only defending 200 points, adding extra pressure on the Italian heading into Turin.