Carlos Alcaraz explained how he and Novak Djokovic arranged a practice session at the Rolex Paris Masters after surprising fans by hitting together ahead of the tournament. Despite contesting a fierce rivalry on the court, the pair have formed a strong relationship away from it. But Alcaraz is hoping that the world No 1 won’t be beating him in a real match after Djokovic won their practice set.

Alcaraz and Djokovic are both back in action this week after taking some time away from the sport. The Spaniard pulled out of last week’s Swiss Indoors due to injury while the 36-year-old recently took a six-week break, skipping the Asian swing.

Ahead of their return to the match court in Paris-Bercy, they opted to practice together – a move that surprised many given that they are the top two seeds and could well meet in the final at the end of the week. Alcaraz has now explained how they arranged the training session, saying they spoke before arriving at the tournament.

“Well, I think it was the best way, you know, to get ready for this tournament, practice with the best one,” the world No 2 smiled. “You know, we spoke before coming here to Paris and we, yeah, we talk about if we can practice one day.

And that “one day” came much sooner than both men thought. The pair contested a practice set on Sunday that saw Djokovic take an early break lead before Alcaraz broke back. They took it to a tiebreak where the world No 1 came from 1-3 down to win it 7-3.

Alcaraz is now hoping that Djokovic keeps his victories to the practice court. Laughing, he added: “It happened yesterday. He won. Hopefully just for practice.” The 20-year-old is eager to reverse his fortunes in Paris-Bercy after getting injured during the tournament 12 months ago.

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