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PARIS — Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>‘s hopes of finishing the season as the top-ranked player took a hit after a 6-3, 6-4 loss to qualifier Roman Safiullin<\/a> in the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n In his return from injury, Alcaraz dropped serve four times and made 27 unforced errors to 21 for Safiullin, a former world No. 2 junior.<\/p>\n “I didn’t feel well, you know, in the game,” Alcaraz said at a news conference. “I think I didn’t move well. In the shots, I think I had a good quality of shots. But, you know, physically, in the part of movement, I have to improve a lot.”<\/p>\n The Spaniard was knocked out in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters nearly three weeks ago and withdrew from the Swiss Indoors in Basel because of a left foot injury and muscle fatigue to his lower back.<\/p>\n Alcaraz leads the ATP Tour with six titles this year but hasn’t lifted any trophy since Wimbledon. He seems to be running on fumes lately because of his demanding style of play.<\/p>\n “Probably the season has been so, so long,” Alcaraz said. “Probably that affects my game.”<\/p>\n The second-seeded Alcaraz and Safiullin traded breaks in the third and fourth games. Alcaraz struggled to find his range and dropped serve at 4-3 with a poor game that included a double fault and two unforced errors. Safiullin hit a service winner and two backhand winners to grab the opening set.<\/p>\n