Carlos Alcaraz looked genuinely shocked by the level of his performance as he slumped to a shocking defeat against Gael Monfils in Cincinnati, but this might just be the perfect reset for the form player in the men’s game.
Rain had forced the players off on Thursday night with Alcaraz a set up but 3-1 down in a second set tie-break and there was an expectation that
Frenchman Monfils was quickly out of the blocks to level the contest, and he then took the decider for a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 triumph.
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Alcaraz’s frustration with his performance surfaced in the deciding set as he smashed his racquet after missing an opportunity to break 37-year-old Monfils’ serve, but that outburst of emotion did not fire his burners as he limped out of a tournament he reached the final in last year.
“I felt like it was the worst match that I ever played in my career,” said Alcaraz. “I couldn’t play. Honestly, I’ve been practising really well here in this tournament.
“The previous days, I was feeling great, hitting the ball clear, moving well. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how I felt like this, but I couldn’t control myself. I couldn’t be better. So this match, it was impossible to win.”
He also addressed his explosive racket smash as he added: “I felt sometimes that I wanted to break the racquet. 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.”
“It’s kind of really difficult to find some good stuff from this match. So I want to forget it, and try to move on to New York,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference.
“I’ll go to New York and I’ll try to practise well, to get used to those courts. And I will forget this match because I think it is impossible to get any good things about this match.”
His early exit will dent his ATP Ranking push ahead of the US Open, with his hopes of leaping ahead of Novak Djokovic to the No 2 position ahead of the final major of the year now over.
Yet Alcaraz has confirmed over the course of the last few weeks that he can beat Djokovic and world No 1 Jannik Sinner when he is fresh and at his best and the break he will now have ahead of the US Open could be just what he needs.
Alcaraz has had more than enough tennis in recent weeks to take some time off to prepare for his return to Flushing Meadows.
This shocking loss against Monfils will give him a chance to head to New York early and get extra practice in the conditions that he needs to master to win his second US Open title.
Being seeded No 3 for the tournament will be a blow as it means he may need to beat Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic to take the title if his two big rivals get that far in the competition.
Yet the other two members of the new ‘Big 3’ at the top of the men’s game also have some doubts hovering around them.
Sinner admits he is struggling physically amid suggestions that the hip injury that forced him to miss big tournaments during the European clay court season has resurfaced.
Meanwhile, footage of Djokovic has emerged showing him partying in Serbia as he continues to celebrate his cherished Olympic gold men, which he won by beating Alcaraz in the Paris 2024 final.
Alcaraz didn’t get much practice on the super-fast courts in Cincinnati before he played Monfils and the courts in New York should be at a pace that is more to his liking as he targets a third Grand Slam title of the year.
His angry racket smash came as a shock to a tennis world not used to seeing Alcaraz lose his cool, but it highlighted the fire burning inside this magnificent 21-year-old superstar and that will serve him well at the US Open.
