Carlos Alcaraz destroyed his racket during a recent match against Gael Monfils at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, and he spoke about it after the match.
The 21-year-old Spaniard arrived in Cincinnati quite motivated. First of all, he played really well at the ATP Masters 1000 event last year, making the final. It was only Novak Djokovic who denied him the trophy, so he likely expected to do well once more.
Another reason he was very motivated was the way the Olympics went. He finished second behind Djokovic, a hugely disappointing result for him, as he genuinely believed that he could win the gold medal. He had a very good reason to believe that.
Unfortunately, it didn't end up that way, and his Cincinnati experience didn't go well either. Alcaraz faced Monfils in his first match in Ohio. It wasn't a hugely complicated matchup for him because he had no problems with the Frenchman in the past.
However, it would ultimately prove to be a very complicated matchup this time around, even though Alcaraz won the opening set. Monfils got himself to a tie-break in the second and went up 3-1 when rain interrupted play.
They came back 18 hours later, and Alcaraz was playing even worse. He lost the tie-break and then got broken early, which ultimately pushed him over the top.
After falling behind 1-3 in the third set, the Spaniard utterly destroyed his racket, shocking many people. It's mostly because he isn't a player that would be seen destroying his rackets.
He's not an overly reactive player, even though he had some outbursts in the past. Speaking after the match, Alcaraz admitted that he was able to keep himself from such a reaction in the past, but this time around, he couldn't. He just didn't want to be on the court anymore.
"I felt sometimes that I wanted to break the racket. It never happened before because I could control myself in those situations, in those feelings, and most of the time, I could control myself, and it could go better in the matches or in these situations."
"Today, it couldn't. I couldn't control myself. I was feeling that I was not playing any kind of tennis, so it was very frustrating for me, at some point, I wanted to leave the court, I didn’t want to be on the court anymore, so it was really hard moment for me, and that's it."
While it indeed released tension, the Spaniard couldn't change anything in the match. His level remained far below his average, and he lost the match in three sets. In the same post-match press conference, the World No. 3 player admitted that it was probably his worst match ever, and that this was one of the matches when he just couldn't control himself.
"Some players or a lot of players, during their careers, during some certain moments, they can't control themselves, and it was one of those moments for me."
It certainly wasn't a very good display, and it was probably the last thing he needed after that loss at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and so close to the US Open. He also apologized for the racket smash on social media, admitting that it was not something he wanted to do and that he would try to control his emotions better.
He also signaled that he's already thinking about the US Open, which is the correct move. His stay in Cincinnati is over, and there is no reason to worry about it now.
0 Comments