or Rafael Nadal, breaking a racket on the court was never an option.
The same cannot be said for Carlos Alcaraz, whose frustration boiled over during his shock second-round defeat to Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Masters. The young Spaniard, who recently secured back-to-back Wimbledon titles and added another French Open victory to his name— a tournament famously dominated by Nadal for nearly two decades—found himself apologizing after a meltdown on Friday.
Alcaraz, in a moment of anger, repeatedly smashed his racket on the ground, earning a code violation from the umpire. Despite winning the first set, he ultimately couldn’t hold on, losing the match 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. This incident stood in stark contrast to Nadal’s approach, the 22-time Grand Slam champion who revealed nearly five years ago that he was never allowed to express frustration in such a manner.
In a 2019 interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, Nadal was asked how many rackets he had broken throughout his career. With a smile, he formed a zero with his finger and thumb, signaling none. He explained, “My family, they wouldn’t have allowed me to break a racket. For me, breaking a racket means I’m not in control of my emotions.”
After the match, Alcaraz offered an explanation for his outburst: “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. 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.”
He continued, “I think some players, a lot of players, during their careers and during certain moments, they can’t control themselves, and it was one of those moments for me.”
