Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, 21, ranked third in the world, unexpectedly dropped out of the second round of the ATP tournament in Cincinnati.
A surprise was seen in the singles of the ATP tennis tournament on Friday, when the Spaniard, who is now third in the world tennis rankings Carlos Alcaraz suffered a loss in a second round match to a Frenchman Gael Monfils lot 6–4, 6–7, 4–6.
The match started already on Thursday, but the rain interrupted the match played in Cincinnati, USA, which is why it was played to the end on Friday.
Former world number two Alcaraz won the first round on Thursday.
The experienced 37-year-old Monfils won the tie-break of the second set. The Frenchman took a 3–1 lead in the third set and after that Alcaraz lost his nerve.
The Spaniard’s reaction was uncharacteristic for him. Known for his calm demeanor, Alcaraz slammed his bat several times on the ground until it broke completely.
Monfils finally won the last set 6–4 and the entire match 2–1.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz’s road at the ATP tournament in Cincinnati thus ended in the second round.
Monfils will face another 21-year-old in the next round, when the Dane will face him Holger Rune. Rune is ranked 16th in the world list.
“Worst match I’ve played”
In the interview, 21-year-old Alcaraz told the match was the worst in his career.
– I feel like it was the worst match I’ve ever played in my career.
– It has never happened before that I couldn’t control my emotions. Today I couldn’t. I felt like I was playing mediocre tennis. It was really frustrating for me. At some point I thought I didn’t want to be on the field anymore.
Despite the loss, Alcaraz has played a great season and won, among other things, two grand slam tournaments and Olympic silver.
A Finnish-British pair in the doubles of the ATP tournament in Cincinnati Harri Heliövaara and Henry Patten will face El Salvador today in the third round match Marcelo Arevalo and Croatia Mate Pavic.