Nick Kyrgios and Corentin Moutet react hilariously to Carlos Alcaraz’s devastating racket

Nick Kyrgios and Corentin Moutet responded hilariously to the attack on Carlos Alcaraz. The two humorously emphasized that their outbursts are usually not interpreted as something that comes down to them simply wanting to win the match.

On Friday at the Cincinnati Masters, the second-seeded Alcaraz completely lost his cool as he struggled and trailed by a break against Gael Monfils in the third set of their second-round match. And in those moments, tennis fans got a chance to see something that had never been seen before: the 21-year-old Spaniard smashed his racket four times on the court.

While it is not new in the tennis world for a tennis player to break a racket, the fact that Alcaraz did it immediately drew attention. The Spanish four-time Grand Slam champion is not known for bursting out and collapsing on the tennis court.

After Alcaraz did so, the radio commentator defended the 21-year-old’s action by stating that he “desperately wants to win the match”.

“If I do that, I have a ‘mental problem,’” Moutet, who has a history of several angry outbursts and breakdowns, jokingly noted.

Kyrgios also joined in and made a hilarious comment: “Haha, what if I do it? Hahahahahaah.”

Haha what about when you do it? Hahahahahaah

—Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) August 17, 2024

The racket hit didn’t help Alcaraz

Breaking a racket may have helped Alcaraz to relieve some of the tension and nervousness he was feeling at the time. But ultimately it did not get him back into the match, as world number 46 Monfils eventually won 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-4.

After the loss, the recent Roland Garros and Wimbledon winner made no secret of his displeasure, calling it “the worst match” of his career.

“I felt like it was the worst match I’ve ever played in my career. (I) couldn’t play. To be honest, I trained really well here in this tournament. The previous days I felt great, I hit the ball well, I moved well. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how I felt like that, but I couldn’t control myself. I couldn’t be better. So this match was impossible to win,” Alcaraz explained after the match.

“It’s really hard to get something good out of this match. So I want to forget about it and try to go to New York. I’m going to New York and I’m going to try to practice well, to get used to those courts. And I’m going to forget about this match, because I think it’s impossible to get something good out of this match.”

Alcaraz was also unhappy with the Cincinnati court

Alcaraz called the loss to Monfils his worst performance and that wasn’t the only comment he made during the post-match press conference. He also claimed that Center Court in Cincinnati felt different than other courts on the property.

“I felt like I was playing a different sport on center court than on the other courts. The ball was faster, much faster than on the other courts. I warmed up before the match and it was a completely different feeling, I don’t know why. I don’t know what happened, why I felt like this. I couldn’t control myself, I couldn’t be better, so this match was impossible to win, and that was it,” Alcaraz added.

Last year, Alcaraz reached his first final in Cincinnati, but lost narrowly to Novak Djokovic in a thrilling match that lasted almost four hours. When asked if he returned to Cincinnati with the hope of going one step further this year, the 21-year-old insisted that was the case.

“I always go to tournaments thinking that I have a chance to win and that I want to show good tennis on the court. But I expected to feel good. I know how to play on these courts, but I had the feeling that the surfaces were completely different, it was like a different sport,” Alcaraz said.

Alcaraz will spend the next few days trying to forget what happened in Cincinnati and see what he can do to put himself in the best possible position to compete for the US Open title.

“The only thing I was worried about was to recover well and be ready for today’s match. I didn’t play well yesterday either, we didn’t have rallies, it was all serving, trying to get the balls in, and that was it. The longest rally yesterday was 5 strokes; I couldn’t find a good feeling. I thought today would be different, that I would feel better, but that didn’t happen,” Alcaraz said.