Paris Masters: Carlos Alcaraz retires injured & Novak Djokovic wins

Carlos Alcaraz decided to retire from the Paris Masters quarter-finals rather than risk further injury to his abdominal muscles.

The world number one had to stop when he was down by six.

I can't bend. "I couldn't serve well and I couldn't hit the forehand well."

Italy's Lorenzo Musetti was defeated by Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who advanced to the last four.

The reigning champion, going for a record-extending seventh title, produced what he described as one of his "best matches of the year" to beat Musetti.

He would have qualified as one of the year's top eight players anyway, even if he had lost, because of his status as Wimbledon champ.

The rise of Spain's Alcaraz can be seen in the fact that he is set to make his debut at the season-ending event in Torino next week.

The Davis Cup Finals will take place in the Spanish city of Malaga at the end of the month and he hopes to be fully fit.

Alcaraz preferred to retire and take care of the injury.

I want to get better in the abdominal and be at 100% in Torino.

The top seed had to retire after being outplayed by the 19-year-old.

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime will play the world's 18th ranked player in the semifinals.

Auger-Aliassime won his 16th match in a row after racing to a 6-1 6-3 win over the American.

Tommy Paul is the American who beat Nadal in the first round.