“After my withdrawal yesterday and having been evaluated by my medical team, unfortunately… this is the result of my injury: an internal oblique muscle tear in the left abdominal wall with an estimated recovery time of six weeks,” Alcaraz wrote on Instagram. 

“Unfortunately I won’t make the ATP Finals or the Davis Cup Finals. It is tough and painful for me to miss these two events, which are so important to me, but all I can do is be positive and focus on my recovery.”

Alcaraz, whose six titles this season have included Masters crowns in Miami and Madrid and a first grand slam title at the US Open in September, remains 1,000 points clear of compatriot Rafael Nadal in the race to be crowned year-end No 1. To overtake him, Nadal would need to win the ATP Finals for the first time or make an unbeaten run to the final. The only other player in the mix is Stefanos Tsitsipas, the champion in 2019, who could leapfrog both Spaniards by winning a second crown.

Alcaraz’s place at the ATP Finals will be taken by the 11th-ranked American Taylor Fritz, with Danish teenager Rune promoted to second alternate behind Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.

Rune, who was four points from victory against Alcaraz at 6-3, 6-6, 3-1, will become first alternate for the season-ending showpiece should he claim the Paris Masters title. That possibility moved a step closer after the 19-year-old Dane avenged his defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Swiss Indoors final last weekend, seeing off the Canadian 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first Masters 1000 final. 

“I hit the ball really clean today, so that was really a key because I could place the ball well, put him under pressure, take time away from him,” said Rune after ending the 16-match winning streak that has earned Auger-Aliassime titles in Florence, Antwerp and Basel. 

“I felt the ball very good on the racquet. I could take it extremely early, and I served very precise. I think everything was good.”

Rune will need to reproduce that form in Sunday’s final, where Novak Djokovic awaits after seeing off Tsitsipas 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4). Djokovic, who twice held to love as he served to stay in the decider, will be bidding for a record-extending seventh title.

“At this stage of my career, to keep pushing myself, keep motivating myself, keep believing that I can win these matches, it means a lot mentally, emotionally for me,” said Djokovic, 35.

“I need to make a statement that I’m still there with the young guys, that I’m able to compete with them and win such tight matches.”

Rune, bidding to become the youngest champion in Paris-Bercy since an 18-year-old Boris Becker won the title in 1986, cannot say he has not been warned.

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“A lot of things going on the last couple of months, without a doubt,” said Nadal. “But we are always ready to find excuses.

“At the end, it’s always the same: you play well, you win; you don’t, you lose. And today for moments, putting everything in a pack, I was playing quite well.  Then at the right moment, I didn’t make the right things, no? So that’s it. He played well. He’s having a great year.  

“Credit to him too that he played with the right intensity and right concentration, and going for the shots, no? I think I was doing that for a while, but then I was not able to keep doing [it].”

It has been a stop-start year for Nadal, who cracked a rib at the Indian Wells Masters in March, forcing him to miss the start of the European clay-court swing, and then withdrew from the Wimbledon semi-finals with a torn abdominal muscle that limited his US Open preparations.

Consolations have been plentiful for the Spaniard, who won the Australian Open in January after returning from a chronic foot injury that he feared might cost him his career, and went on to claim a 14th title at Roland Garros. Paradoxically, though, despite those successes – which carried him clear of Federer and Novak Djokovic at the top of the men’s grand slam leaderboard – and notwithstanding the career-best 20-match winning streak with which he began the season, sustained momentum has been hard to come by.

Having arrived in Paris with only five competitive matches under his belt since early July, Nadal was understandably slow to find his range. An uncharacteristically aggressive return position just behind the baseline – rather than pinned up against the backstop, as is his wont – did little to help. Neither did Paul’s aggression and athleticism. A running forehand pass, flicked past Nadal in the opening game at full stretch, was an early contender for shot of the tournament. It took Paul just two games to eclipse it, another sinew-stretching sprint culminating with a one-handed backhand pass from the double-handed American that Nadal could only watch and applaud. 

Broken in that game, Nadal mounted an instant recovery, capitalising on a slew of errors from Paul to draw level before gradually stamping his authority on proceedings. At a set and a break to the good, the 22-time slam champion looked to be in control. But a pair of unforced forehand errors handed the initiative back to Paul, who broke to love with a sharp return, and more mistakes followed in the tiebreak. At 4-1 down in the decider, Nadal sat brooding in his chair, head bowed and beads of sweat streaming freely down his face. His race was run.

“All the credit to Tommy,” said Nadal, whose defeat ended any prospect of him overhauling Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the world rankings for the time being. “I think he played aggressive, a lot of great shots. I had my match in that second set, with a set and a break. I played a terrible game there. 

“I didn’t deserve the victory, playing that bad in that key moment. Until that moment [it] was OK, a good match for me, knowing that is my first match since a while.”

Nadal said he still hoped to play in the ATP Finals, which begin in Turin on 13 November, but emphasised he would need more time on court to be competitive.

“I hope to be there,” said Nadal. “I’m excited about playing, even if it hasn’t been the perfect couple of months for me. But, yeah, nothing to lose. After a good year, going there, just trying my best. At the end I need days on the tour. 

“It’s true that for the last five months I didn’t spend enough days on the tour. I don’t even say competing on a tennis court, I say on the tour. Practising with the guys. That’s what I need. 

“If nothing happens, if I’m feeling OK, [I will try] to be there a little bit earlier than usual and have some practices. Just give myself a chance to enjoy another World Tour Finals, no? You never know when it’s going to be the last, especially at my age.”

It was a bad day all round for new fathers. Daniil Medvedev, whose daughter was born last month, less than a week after Nadal’s son arrived, earlier tumbled to a shock defeat against Australia’s Alex de Minaur. The fourth-seeded Russian, who led by a break in the decider and saved two match points at 5-4, was beaten 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. Medvedev, a finalist In Paris-Bercy last year, will now slip out of the top four.

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