Tennis LIVE: Carlos Alcaraz replies to Alex de Minaur complaint as Brit sent death threats
The Paris Masters continues, and recent Vienna champion Carlos Alcaraz will play his opening match against Alex Michelsen. The Spaniard is on a five-match winning streak after lifting his 28th career title last week, thrashing Alex de Minaur 6-1 6-4 in Sunday’s final. The Australian has since lamented how tough and “annoying” it is to face Alcaraz, against whom he now has an unwanted 0-7 record. But Alcaraz sent De Minaur his well-wishes as they both headed to Paris for the last Masters 1000 event of the year. Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev are also in action on a jam-packed day at the La Defense Arena.
And it’s been a mixed back for the British women in Asia. Teenager Mika Stojsavljevic got into the Hong Kong Open as a lucky loser and stunned former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. Katie Boutler lost to Claire Liu, while Jodie Burrage suffered defeat in Chennai and then shared vile death threats she received after the match.
Zverev on upset alert
Alexander Zverev is playing his first match as the new world No. 1, but he’s losing.
The top seed at the Paris Masters received a bye to the second round and was handed a tough draw, coming up against former top-five star Lorenzo Musetti, who has dropped down the rankings due to injuries.
And the Italian is on the verge of causing a huge upset, as he’s just won a close first set 7-6(5).
Zverev had a big 5-2 lead in the first set tiebreak, but fell apart as Musetti reeled off five straight points.
Alcaraz responds to De Minaur
Alex de Minaur extended his losing streak against Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s Vienna Open final, only managing to take five games off the Spaniard.
He now has a 0-7 record against Alcaraz, and during his runner-up speech, said: “I will say one thing, though. It is very annoying to play against you.”
The world No. 9 also shared a photo dump on Instagram, recapping his week in Vienna and doubling down on his comment. “Congrats @carlitosalcarazz! Always a pleasure… even if you make my job a little annoying,” he joked.
And Alcaraz replied with a touching comment. “You are so great Alex! Here’s to all that’s coming,” he wrote.
