Carlos Alcaraz breaks a racket while losing his match with No. 46

World No. 3 tennis player Carlos Alcaraz smashed his racket during a game. Interestingly, he is known as one of the “Nadal wannabes” along with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in women’s singles.

Whereas No. 2 Novak Djokovic and other tennis players occasionally lose their cool to break a racket when things go bad during a match, Rafael Nadal has never done such resentful behavior for all the 1,447 matches since he made a pro debut. He once said that smashing a racket only shows losing one’s temper.

Alcaraz followed the senior’s professional attitude until he was caught on camera almost flinging his racket off during the men’s singles final, which he was losing to Djokovic in the Paris Olympics. In the end, he crossed the line in the Cincinnati Open, which he joined right after the Olympic Games.

After winning by default in the Round of 64 in the run-up to the US Open, the Spanish player lost a winning game to Gael Monfils by one to two in the next round that ended on Saturday. Beaten in a second-set tiebreaker after a suspension due to rain, he lost by one to three in the third set, getting out of control to smash his racket on the court as many as four times.

Making such a “racket-smashing” scene for the first time, Alcaraz apologized for his behavior, which he described as unacceptable on the court, promising to focus on New York, where the US Open awaits him, according to his social media on Sunday. The winner of this year’s France Open and Wimbledon is gearing himself up to achieve three straight Major titles in the US Open scheduled next Monday.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com