Monfils despairs of Alcaraz, KO in Cincinnati destroying his racket

Gael Monfils37 years old and world number 46, is desperate Carlos Alcaraz21 and 3rd in the ranking, KO in his debut at Masters 1,000 on the hard court Cincinnati (United States) breaking his racket in an image never seen before in his career: 4-6, 7-6 (5) and 6-4 after 2h.29′ of play.

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After the previous break of Monfils (2-1), Alcaraz exploded in defeat in the fourth game of the third set after squandering the opportunity to return the break to the Frenchman (3-1), who played his cards like an old man dog on the ATP circuit until winning 6-4 in that final round.

The two tennis players on Friday resumed the match that was suspended on Thursday due to rain, with 6-4 and 6-6 (1-3) in favor of the Murcian. Clearly, Alcaraz is keen to settle that tiebreak issue to arrive more rested for the round of 16 bout, scheduled for a few hours later against the Dane. Holger Rune.

However, the Frenchman won the tiebreaker 7-5, a first defeat for Carlos, who did not feel comfortable in a match that seemed to eat sand for him. Alcaraz feels comfortable when he commands the court, but this time he is not confident enough to throw his dreaded punches, he enters the slower and trickier game of Monfils, a master of distraction and changing rhythms, and finally burst into that fourth. game of pure incompetence.

With all his anger and strength, Carlos hit his racquet with four very violent blows on the ground, where he received boos from the public and the logical ‘warning’ from the chair umpire. Alcaraz had never been seen like this on a court, another example of the extent to which the Spanish tennis player was experiencing an internal ‘war’ that he was barely able to calm until the match was over.

“It’s like I don’t want to win the fight!” he exclaimed as he missed another break point in the sixth game against a Monfil who had caught big fish in troubled waters. “Shake his hand then!” his coach replied, Juan Carlos Ferrerowhich prompted Carlos to believe in the return, among other things because until then he had a break ball on all the Frenchman’s service turns in the third set.

However, in the absence of his best tennis, Alcaraz lacked composure and had a lot of obfuscation, another lesson for his career, brilliant at only 21 years old (four Grand Slams already and the youngest No. 1 in history), but obviously exposed. from now on to another endless number of singularities he must learn to handle: great tennis players are also defined by their ability to win even when they’re not having their best day.

Alcaraz, a finalist last year in Cincinnati, said goodbye for the first time in Cincinnati, a stark contrast to the big Olympic final he played against Novak Djokovic in Paris although the Serbian won the gold. The transition from dirt to hard court this time was difficult for the Murcian and he did not have the patience to improve his feelings in the match against Monfils, hence his premature and surprising elimination after winning the Olympic silver.

Carlos lost only one match this year after scoring the first set, against the Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of Madrid Masters 1,000: He won the other 31, but the rain break, Monfils’ skill and his own impatience formed a lethal cocktail for him this time.

Alcaraz was forced to turn the page quickly as the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season loomed on the looming horizon, the US Open (August 26-September 8), where in 2022 he won his first major and became the youngest No. 1 in history at age 19.

Cincinnati Masters 1,000

Results

Round of 16:
Sinner to Thompson, WO
Rublev over Nakashima, 7-6 (5), 6-1
Zverev to Carreño, 7-5, 7-6 (6)
Shelton over Marozsan, 6-4, 6-3

2nd round:
Monfils over Alcaraz, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
Auger over Ruud, 6-3, 6-1