Under the glowing lights of La Défense Arena on Tuesday evening, the Paris crowd anticipated a royal performance from world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz as he kicked off the second round. The six-time Grand Slam champion, chasing a swift ticket to the Round of 16, faced a familiar foe in Cameron Norrie , his seventh encounter, with a 5-2 edge in his favor. Yet the Brit, already sharpened by his opening-round win over Sebastian Baez (6-3, 6-4), refused to bow. As the tension rose, Alcaraz’s rhythm unraveled, culminating in a fiery mid-match rant with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, an outburst that turned heads in Paris.

From the very first rallies under the bright lights of La Défense Arena, the Paris crowd sensed that something was off with Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard, usually in power, looked

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