A first-round draw against No 13 seed Alex de Minaur was always going to be tough for Andy Murray, who pushed his opponent all the way. But it was yet another defeat – his fifth in his last seven matches – that left Murray deflated and furious.
He admitted that he was “not really enjoying” tennis at the moment having smashed his racket five times on the floor at the end of the loss. But the biggest shock of the tournament came last night when world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz lost to qualifier Roman Safiullin in straight sets.
The Spaniard was looking to close in on Novak Djokovic for the end-of-year world No 1 ranking in Paris. But Djokovic now remains in pole position to claim the honour for the eighth time in his career.
He begins his tournament today against Tomas Martin Etcheverry with every chance of winning his seventh Paris Masters title.
