CINCINNATI — Carlos Alcaraz repeatedly smashed his racket on the court docket in a uncommon present of frustration on Friday, and the four-time Grand Slam winner fell to Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 on the Cincinnati Open.
In a match that was suspended by rain on Thursday evening with the gamers in a second-set tiebreaker, the 37-year-old Monfils superior by taking the final two units from the second-seeded Alcaraz, who known as the loss his “worst match.”
“I felt prefer it was the worst match that I’ve ever performed in my profession,” Alcaraz stated. “I have been working towards very well. I used to be feeling nice. However I could not play. I wish to neglect it and attempt to transfer on to New York.”
The US Open begins there on Aug. 26.
Trailing 3-1 within the tiebreaker when the match was halted, Alcaraz hoped for a reset when play resumed Friday. However the No. 3 participant within the ATP rankings could not management his feelings.
“It by no means occurred earlier than, as a result of I might management these emotions,” Alcaraz stated. “In the present day, I could not. I used to be feeling that I used to be not enjoying any form of tennis. It was actually irritating for me. Sooner or later, I did not wish to be on the court docket anymore.”
Alcaraz was enjoying his first match since incomes a silver medal on the Paris Olympics after dropping to Novak Djokovic, who additionally beat him final yr within the Cincinnati ultimate.
Monfils returned to the court docket later Friday and misplaced to No. 15 seed Holger Rune 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“It was an enormous win for me in opposition to Carlos, sudden to be sincere,” Monfils stated. “To play once more in a pair hours in opposition to [another] good and youthful participant, I knew it will be robust.”
In ladies’s motion, top-ranked Iga Swiatek superior to the quarterfinals with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Marta Kostyuk.
Swiatek bounced again with a extra full efficiency after dropping a second-set tiebreak on Wednesday earlier than outlasting France’s Varvara Gracheva.
“In the present day, I simply saved my depth at a excessive stage on a regular basis,” Swiatek stated. “It did not actually matter to me what the rating was, I simply needed to proceed enjoying my sport. I centered on myself.”
No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka additionally superior with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elina Svitolina, however No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, the runner-up on the French Open and Wimbledon, misplaced to Mirra Andreeva 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova upset No. 7 and Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng 7-5, 6-1. Spaniard Paula Badosa defeated Yulia Putintseva, who upset Coco Gauff on Thursday, 6-4, 6-4.
Prime males to advance included No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who bought a walkover in opposition to Jordan Thompson on his twenty third birthday, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 5 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 6 Andrey Rublev and Twelfth-ranked American Ben Shelton.
