Alcaraz's 'gift' to Jódar in Paris: a favor worth a direct ticket to Turin

Carlos Alcaraz's sublime triumph against Taylor Fritz, 6-7, 7-5 and 4-6, allowed the Murcian to reach the semifinals of the Paris Masters 1000 and, incidentally, do a great favor to his compatriot Rafa Jódar, who, after being eliminated in the French capital, was hoping for a miracle to mathematically qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin.

After his defeat in the second round against Casper Ruud in the last Masters 1000 of the season, Rafa Jódar had to wait for a carom that, fortunately, has happened on the fast Parisian courts: Novak Djokovic and Jiri Lehecka, two of the candidates for the 'top8', were defeated throughout the week; and only Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz were missing to climb to the best positions in the ranking.

No sooner said than done. This day of the Paris Masters 1000 will surely be remembered by the Madrid native for the rest of his life, as the other two top chasers for the position were eliminated at the hands of Ben Shelton (Tommy Paul) and Carlos Alcaraz (Taylor Fritz) to enter, for the first time in his career and in his first year as a professional, in the legendary Masters Cup, which will bring together the eight best tennis players in the world from November 10 to 17.