Carlos Alcaraz and his team were left terrified after the Spaniard made a behind-the-scenes blunder.
The world No. 3 is preparing to face Novak Djokovic in a mouthwatering Australian Open quarter-final contest on Tuesday.
But Alcaraz and his coaches were given something else to worry about when he appeared to break something in the player area hours before the match.
The 21-year-old enjoys playing unusual games with his team to calm his nerves before matches and unwind after training sessions. Alcaraz and co have often been spotted playing makeshift mini-golf on the practice courts.
But they took their antics a step further on Tuesday and were sent into a panic when Alcaraz did some damage in the stretching area in Melbourne Park.
The Spanish star was caught hitting a ball into an area off-camera while his family and coaching staff watched. It seemed to break something, and Alcaraz and his entourage quickly turned away and winced.
Alcaraz and his brother Alvaro covered their faces with their hands while other team members clapped. His main coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, was the only one who remained calm.
A security guard was also standing in the doorway, watching on, and he laughed as the Alcaraz team started freaking out.
The added stress is the last thing the No. 3 seed would have wanted before his showdown with Djokovic. Tuesday’s quarter-final is their eighth meeting and their first match since Alcaraz lost a heartbreaker at the Olympics.
Djokovic just edged him out in two close tiebreak sets in the gold medal match last summer and Alcaraz burst into tears, later explaining that he felt he had let his country down.
The loss hit him hard – he crashed out in the first round of his next tournament, the Cincinnati Open, and suffered an early exit at the US Open a few weeks later.
But Alcaraz can take confidence from the fact that he’s won his last two matches against Djokovic at Grand Slam level. In 2023, he ended Djokovic’s reign on Wimbledon Centre Court and beat him in a thrilling five-set final to lift the title.
Twelve months later, Alcaraz dominated when they met again in the championship match and eased past the 24-time Major winner to retain his title at the All England Club.
Ahead of their first meeting at the Australian Open, the 21-year-old admitted that he had to block out Djokovic’s achievements on the court. “If I think about everything he has done in tennis, I couldn’t play,” he said.
“I mean, 24 Grand Slam, the most weeks at No. 1, everything. He almost broke every record in tennis. I’m trying not to think about that when I’m in the match. I’m just trying that I’m able to beat him.
“I know my weapons. I know that I’m able to play a good tennis against him, I’m able to beat him. That’s all I’m thinking when I’m facing him.”
