Carlos Alcaraz had never been seen so frustrated in his short career in the elite. The tennis player, only 21 years old and with four majors already won, had never broken a racket during a match. But on Friday, in the round of 32 match of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 against Gael Monfils —46th in the world ranking ATP—, was unable to control the torrent of negative emotions that consumed him and smashed his Babolat against the court floor. With a break Down in the third set, enraged by his play, the missed break opportunities and the course of the match, he violently smashed four times against the concrete of the centre court, one of the fastest on the circuit. “I felt like it was the worst match I have ever played in my career. Honestly, I couldn’t play. I felt like I wanted to break my racket several times. It had never happened to me before because I had been able to control my feelings in those situations. But I felt like I wasn’t playing at all, and it was really difficult for me. There came a point when I wanted to walk off the court, it was very hard,” the world number three said in a press conference after the defeat (4-6, 7-6(5) and 6-4, 2h 30m), who explained that very uncomfortable moment that cost him boos and whistles from the public, as well as the warning chair umpire Adel Nour.
This Saturday, a day later, the tennis player from Murcia explained the press conference on Friday and apologized on social network X for the gesture. “I apologize because my attitude yesterday was not correct and it is something that should not be done on a court. I am human, I had a buildup of nerves inside and sometimes it is very difficult to control yourself when your heart rate is so high. I will work so that it does not happen again. Time to think about NYC!” he wrote, referring to the US Open, which will be held in New York from August 26 to September 8.
I apologize because my attitude yesterday was not correct and it is something that should not be done on the track. I am human, I had a lot of nerves inside and sometimes it is very difficult to control yourself when your heart rate is so high. I will work so that it doesn’t happen again… pic.twitter.com/YR0dRJhTxX
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) August 17, 2024
Alcaraz’s unprecedented gesture until Friday has never been done by Rafa Nadal, his idol, but has been done on occasions of maximum frustration by the other two giants of tennis, Roger Federer – especially at the beginning of his career – and Novak Djokovic. Only two years ago, for example, Nole smashed his racket in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros during the match in which he lost to Nadal in four sets.
The Murcian did it for the first time at 21 years old in a match that he described as the worst of his career. He had already threatened to hit the ground at another point in the game when he finally exploded. The Spaniard looked very uncomfortable since the match resumed on Friday after being suspended due to rain the day before, when he had won the first set and was losing 1-3 in the second. tie-break of the second. Alcaraz was playing very tense, nervous, at the mercy of the slow pace that Monfils imposed at times and that he mixed with his whippings to make the Murcian uncomfortable and prevent him from getting into his rhythm from the back of the court. Frustrated by the options of break wasted points – two in the second game of the deciding set, one in the fourth – and unforced errors, the four-time Grand Slam winner could not control his nerves and exploded.
“Intensity! Intensity, but relaxed!” Juan Carlos Ferrero asked him afterwards. Alcaraz was unable to get out of his dilemma and had a chat with his coach during the last part of the match that showed his discomfort and his feeling of helplessness on the court.
— You’ve had balls. break in every game,” Ferrero told him when he was 4-2 down and serving.
—And how have I played them?—, Alcaraz answered.
— It doesn’t matter, now we have to go for the next one.
— It seems like I don’t want to win the game!
—Shake your hand, shake your hand—, the coach said ironically to see if the man from Murcia would finally focus.
— It seems like I don’t want to win the match!
With Alcaraz caught in his own dilemma, Monfils only needed to rely on his serve to spoil the Murcia native’s debut in Cincinnati and inflict his second consecutive defeat after falling on August 4 in the final of the Games against Djokovic.
Once the tournament is over, the slip will take 590 points off the world number three, who last year lost the title to Nole in a fantastic clash that lasted almost four hours. “I want to forget about this match and focus on New York. We will go soon and I will try to train and adapt to the courts. I want to forget because it is impossible to get anything good,” warned the Spaniard on Friday. Alcaraz will arrive at the US Open after having missed out on Olympic gold, without experience on cement after not going to Montreal and falling in his debut in Cincinnati, but with the victory of two majors this year —Roland Garros and Wimbledon— and with the aim of repeating the victory with which he amazed the world in 2022, when at 19 years old he won his first Grand Slam and became the youngest number one in the history of tennis.
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