As Carlos Alcaraz slipped to a shock defeat against Gaël Monfils in the second round of the Cincinnati Open, he became so frustrated that he smashed his racket against the court several times, bending the frame out of shape while the crowd looked on stunned.
The moment came as Monfils consolidated a break in the third set shortly before he completed a 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-4 victory over the 21-year-old on Friday.
Alcaraz apologized for smashing his racket in an Instagram post Saturday.
“I want to apologise for my attitude yesterday, it was not good and that should not happen on court,” the world No. 3 said.
“I’m human, the nerves had accumulated and sometimes it’s very tough to control when there is that tension. I will work so that it doesn’t happen again. Now it’s time to think about NYC!”
In his press conference after the match, Alcaraz had described it as a momentary loss of control during the “worst match that I ever played in my career.”
“I felt sometimes that I wanted to break the racket,” he told reporters. “It never happened before, because I could control myself in those situations, in those feelings. Most of the time I could control myself and it could go better in the matches or in the situation that I’ve been feeling before.
“Today, I couldn’t control myself, because, as I said, I was feeling that I was not playing any kind of tennis … I think some players, a lot of players, during their careers and during some certain moments, they can’t control themselves. And it was one of the moments for me.”
For Monfils, it marked his first win against a top three player since he defeated Daniil Medvedev in March 2022 at Indian Wells, an achievement he celebrated with a roar as he soaked in the crowd’s applause afterward.
But it was Alcaraz who had enjoyed the better start to the match, and who initially seemed to be headed to a hard-fought victory when rain stopped play on Thursday night in the middle of a second set tiebreak with the four-time grand slam winner leading 6-4 6-6 (1-3).
Monfils wrapped up the second set shortly after play resumed on Friday, however, and went on to win the decider, saving all four of the break points he faced.
“It was really tough for me, I feel like it was the worst match I ever played in my career,” Alcaraz said afterwards. “I was feeling great … I warmed up before the match but it was a totally different feeling, I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t control my serve … so this match was impossible to win.”
Monfils had to return to the court later on the same day for his third round match against Holger Rune where he was defeated 3-6 6-3 6-4.
