Frustrated Carlos Alcaraz Smashes His Racket in 3-set Loss to Gael Monfils at Cincinnati Open

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates a point against Ben Shelton of the USA during the men's second round match at the 2023 National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 09 August 2023. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates a point against Ben Shelton of the USA during the men's second round match at the 2023 National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 09 August 2023. (EPA)
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Frustrated Carlos Alcaraz Smashes His Racket in 3-set Loss to Gael Monfils at Cincinnati Open

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates a point against Ben Shelton of the USA during the men's second round match at the 2023 National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 09 August 2023. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates a point against Ben Shelton of the USA during the men's second round match at the 2023 National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 09 August 2023. (EPA)

Carlos Alcaraz repeatedly smashed his racket on the court in a rare show of frustration on Friday, and the four-time Grand Slam winner fell to Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 at the Cincinnati Open.

In a match that was suspended by rain on Thursday night with the players in a second-set tiebreaker, the 37-year-old Monfils advanced by taking the last two sets from the second-seeded Alcaraz, who called the loss his "worst match."

"I felt like it was the worst match that I´ve ever played on my career," Alcaraz said. "I´ve been practicing really well. I was feeling great. But I couldn´t play. I want to forget it and try to move on to New York."

Trailing 3-1 in the tiebreaker when the match was halted, Alcaraz was hoping for a reset when play resumed Friday. But, the No. 3 player in the ATP rankings wasn't able to control his emotions.

"It never happened before, because I could control those feelings," Alcaraz said. "Today I couldn´t. I was feeling that I was not playing any kind of tennis. It was really frustrating for me. At some point, I didn´t want to be on the court anymore."

Alcaraz was playing his first match since earning a silver medal at the Paris Olympics after losing to Novak Djokovic, who also beat him last year in the Cincinnati final.

Monfils returned to the court later Friday and lost to No. 15 seed Holger Rune 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"It was a big win for me against Carlos, unexpected to be honest," Monfils said. "To play again in a couple hours against (another) good and younger player, I knew it would be tough."

In women's action, top-ranked Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarterfinals with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Marta Kostyuk.

Swiatek bounced back with a more complete performance after losing a second-set tiebreak on Wednesday before outlasting France's Varvara Gracheva.

"Today, I just kept my intensity at a high level all the time," Swiatek said. "It didn't really matter to me what the score was, I just wanted to continue playing my game. I focused on myself."

No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka also advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elina Svitolina, but No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon, lost to Mirra Andreeva 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova upset No. 7 and Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen 7-5, 6-1. Spaniard Paula Badosa defeated Yulia Putintseva, who upset Coco Gauff on Thursday, 6-4, 6-4.

Top men to advance included No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who got a walkover against Jordan Thompson on his 23rd birthday, No. 3 Alex Zverev, No. 5 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 6 Andrey Rublev and 12th-ranked American Ben Shelton.



Thomas Muller Bids Farewell to Bayern Munich with Loss in Club World Cup

05 July 2025, US, Atlanta: Munich's Thomas Muller sits on the bench ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal soccer match against between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (dpa)
05 July 2025, US, Atlanta: Munich's Thomas Muller sits on the bench ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal soccer match against between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (dpa)
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Thomas Muller Bids Farewell to Bayern Munich with Loss in Club World Cup

05 July 2025, US, Atlanta: Munich's Thomas Muller sits on the bench ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal soccer match against between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (dpa)
05 July 2025, US, Atlanta: Munich's Thomas Muller sits on the bench ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal soccer match against between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (dpa)

After the final whistle to his Club World Cup, Thomas Muller waved to the Bayern Munich fans one last time.

His quarter-century with the German club is over.

The 35-year-old Muller went out with a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals on Saturday, a bittersweet ending to a tenure filled with so much glory.

Muller came on as a substitute in the 80th minute and appeared to draw a penalty in the waning seconds of stoppage time when PSG's Nuno Mendes delivered a high challenge in the area.

But the video review showed that Mendes' foot struck the ball, just missing Muller's chin, and that finished off the PSG victory.

“I'm still fully in work mode now,” Muller said. “It doesn't feel much different from before the game when we tried, and I also tried, to just get one round further.”

He wasn't ready to reflect on his brilliant career at Bayern, which began when he joined the club as a 10-year-old in the summer of 2000.

“In the end, maybe we deserved more,” Muller said. “But in football when you have these tight matches, it's sometimes a coin flip. And, yes, we lost it.”

Muller made more appearances than any other player at Bayern, with more than 200 goals scored and more than 200 set up for others. He led the club to a record 13 Bundesliga titles, going out with one last championship this past season.

But Bayern announced in April that it would not extend his hefty contract for another season.

“Of course, I am aware that this was my last game, and I will see what goes through my head in the coming days,” Muller said.

He hasn't revealed his future plans, though there have been reports linking him to a possible move to US-based Major League Soccer.

“At the moment, I'm not in the mood to share my deeper thoughts about my career,” Muller said. “We lost a big fight, a very important game for us.”