By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday October 31, 2023
Russia's Roman Safiullin powered past Carlos Alcaraz for his biggest career win in Paris.
Photo Source: TTV
Roman Safiullin’s best season as a pro has just gotten better.
The Russian pulled off a Halloween caper on Tuesday night in the City of Light, taking down No.2 seeded Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 6-4 for his biggest career win to reach the third round.
“Since qualies I was not playing at this level but against Carlos and these Top-10 guys you have to lift up the level and I managed to do it," the Russian told Barry Cowan of ATP Media after the match.
It simply wasn't the Spaniard's night.
Alcaraz, who lost at the first hurdle for the first time in 2023, drew first blood with a break for 2-1 in the opening set, but it would be the last time he held an outright advantage in the match. Safiullin broke back immediately then slid ahead with a break for 5-3 before serving out the opening set at 15.
The second set followed a similar script, with Alcaraz taking a 3-1 lead and quickly squandering it. Safiullin won 5 of the final six games to claim his second consecutive Top-10 win and the biggest win by ranking of his career.
The 26-year-old World No. 45 will face Karen Khachanov in the third round.
Safiullin hit 14 winners against 21 unforced errors, while Alcaraz hit 15 winners against 27 unforced errors.
Alcaraz will miss out on an opportunity to make up ground in the Race for year-end No.1. He trails Novak Djokovic by 500 points in the live race, and the Serb can grow that lead with each win he achieves in Paris.
Top-seeded Djokovic will face Tomas Martin Etcheverry in second-round action on Wednesday.
Alcaraz was flat in his first match since bowing out in the third round of the Shanghai Masters to Grigor Dimitrov. The 20-year-old two-time major champion drops to 63-10 on the season.
Safiullin improves to 20-18 overall.
“Carlos did not have his best performance but I am still happy that I could win,” he said. “He’s No.2 in the world, former No.1 in the world, with two Slams already – even if he’s not in the best shape it’s tough to beat him.”