Carlos Alcaraz is one of the happiest individuals on the tennis tour, but he has been left frustrated with the chair umpire during his match against Karen Khachanov.
Having been held at bay by the Russian throughout the first set, the Spaniard was serving with the scores at 4-4.
And, having just won a marathon point to get the advantage, he naturally took extra time to go to his towel before serving.
Ludicrously, that was deemed an infringement of the rules, and Carlos Alcaraz was penalised with a time violation.
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He did not take that punishment lightly.
Every word of Carlos Alcaraz’s argument with the chair umpire
When initially penalised, he walked over to the umpire, who quickly told him: “I stopped time at 25 seconds when it started, then you got the towel, then it started again.
“I stopped it when you reached [the towel].”
Alcaraz’s response was a furious one, asking: “So I am not allowed to go to the towel then? I am not allowed!”
Marija Cicak, the umpire, reiterated her point: “I stopped it when you reached for the towel. That’s when I stopped it.”
As such, Alcaraz would echo his own anger: “I am not allowed to go to the towel then?”
In a desperate bid to quell this feud, Khachanov asked if he could rescind the decision, but was told that it simply did not work like that.
Even after the 22-year-old had won the next point and the game, his anger had not subsided. He continued, at the change of ends: “Next time, what should I do? Run to the baseline?”
Cicak sympathised, but was not budging: “I understand, but I have to play with what I had. I can’t invent more time.”
Can Carlos Alcaraz win MORE Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic? 🤔
Alcaraz had choice words after this latest explanation, simply stating: “It’s s—-. It’s s—-. It’s s—-.” He would also dub the ATP’s rules as ‘s—‘ as well, seemingly taking issue with both the laws and the one enforcing it.
“Okay, I think we get the point,” the umpire concluded, with the co-commentator stating: “This is as upset as I have ever seen him.”
This frustration is ironic given how friendly Valentin Royer was at the net with Alcaraz after their recent match.
Carlos Alcaraz clearly has an issue with the time violation rule
As if his expletive-filled argument did not reaffirm his position already, his historical reaction to time violations should prove that he is clearly not in favour of the rule.
After all, whenever he gets the chance, the seven-time Grand Slam champion tries to overrule the umpire.
Even as recently as last month, he told the umpire to rescind a time violation given to Alex de Minaur, claiming he was not ready to receive his serve.
Delving even further back, and in September he accused another umpire at the Japan Open of having ‘never played tennis in your life’ after again hitting him with a time violation after a lung-busting rally.
The rule is in place to speed up the sport, but common sense must prevail after a gruelling rally. Clearly, on this occasion, it did not. Alcaraz would go on to lose the first set on a tiebreak.
