"Nike jinxed Carlos Alcaraz";"Yet fools will say the bells ring for Carlos" - Spaniard winning wooden spoon at Paris Masters amuses fans

Carlos Alcaraz's push for the year-end World No. 1 position took a major hit at last week's Paris Masters. The Spaniard not only failed to go deep in the draw, but also received a rather unwanted honour — the "wooden Spoon".

Alcaraz, placed 2nd in the ATP rankings, has slowed down a lot as the 2023 season has approached its end. The young Spaniard was far from his best during his opener in Paris-Bercy against Roman Safiullin, losing 6-3, 6-4 to the unseeded Russian. Interestingly enough, the World No. 2's early exit from the 2023 Paris Masters set off a chain of events.

His victor Safiullin dropped his next match to 16th-seeded Karen Khachanov, who, in turn, got routed by World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals. Tsitsipas, on his part, suffered a thrilling loss to former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals.

The Bulgarian, who was unseeded at the Masters 1000 event in Paris, was then beaten in straightforward fashion by Novak Djokovic, thereby ensuring that Alcaraz won the "wooden spoon" in Paris-Bercy.

The tennis community on social media was greatly amused to learn about this unenviable achievement of Carlos Alcaraz's. One fan suggested that Nike had perhaps jinxed the World No. 2, alluding to their infamous post on X (formerly Twitter) from July where the sports brand claimed that "The Alcaraz Era is upon us."

"Nike jinxed Alcaraz by pulling the trigger a tad early," the fan wrote.

A screen capture of the tennis fans' reactions

Another fan, meanwhile, poked fun at the 20-year-old by reminding fans of how Novak Djokovic reigned supreme in Paris.

"Alcaraz: spooned, Nole: trophied, and yet the fools will say the bells ring for Carlos," they wrote.

A screen capture of the tennis fans' reactions

Here are a few more reactions from social media:

Here are a few more reactions from social media

Carlos Alcaraz still has a miniscule chance of ending the 2023 season as World No. 1

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller in this year's Wimbledon final

Carlos Alcaraz's second-round loss at the 2023 Paris Masters doesn't bode well for his year-end World No. 1 aspirations. The Spaniard's chances to leapfrog top-ranked Novak Djokovic are far less plausible now, as the Serb gained 1,000 rankings points as a consequence of his title victory at the tournament.

In this week's ATP rankings, the Serbinator stands tall at 11,445 points, which is 2,990 points more than the Spaniard's tally. Having said that, the 24-time Major winner will be defending 1,500 ranking points at the 2023 ATP Finals, which means that his young challenger still has a miniscule chance of regaining the crown.

Carlos Alcaraz didn't play at the year-end championships last year due to an abdominal injury. He can potentially rise to the apex spot on the men's tour if he wins all of his matches at the ATP Finals, provided Djokovic fails to win even a single group-stage match.