(Video) Carlos Alcaraz Clashes with Chair Umpire over Evian Bottles in Cincinnati: “I Have to Pay Because of Your Fault?”

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Luca Nardi to schedule his Cincinnati quarterfinal clash with Andrey Rublev.

(Video) Carlos Alcaraz Clashes with Chair Umpire over Evian Bottles in Cincinnati: “I Have to Pay Because of Your Fault?”

Carlos Alcaraz argues with the chair umpire over Evian bottles (Image via X/Carlos Alcaraz 4K, f)

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Carlos Alcaraz was involved in an altercation with the chair umpire during his fourth-round match at the Cincinnati Masters. He was up against Luca Nardi, whom he knocked out with a 6-1, 6-4 scoreline without breaking a sweat.

But the heated argument with the chair umpire overshadowed his performance. Umpire Greg Allensworth urged the Spaniard to cover the logo on his water bottles from Evian because this brand is not a sponsor of the tournament, saying it was his fault that he didn’t tell the World No.2 sooner about the logo. Alcaraz refused to follow this order and argued that he had to face the consequence because the umpire didn’t mention it earlier.

Yeah, but it wasn’t my fault! Why would I have to cover it when it wasn’t my fault? Because it’s your fault I have to pay for it? No, I’m not going to cover it!

Carlos Alcaraz could be heard saying this while arguing with the umpire

With this win, the five-time Grand Slam champion took a 2-0 lead over the Italian ace in their head-to-head matchups. He will next lock horns with Andrey Rublev, against whom he holds a 3-1 head-to-head lead, also beating him in the fourth round of this year’s Wimbledon in four sets. Before scheduling the clash with the second seed, the Russian ace went past Francisco Comesana.

Alcaraz has never lifted a title in the two North American hard-court tournaments that are held before the US Open. In Cincinnati, the 22-year-old came close to lifting the title in 2023 as he reached the final. But he failed to beat 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Last year, Gael Monfils knocked him out in his opening round.

Carlos Alcaraz on the luchador mask

Ahead of his match against third-round opponent Hamad Medjedovic, Carlos Alcaraz was gifted a luchador mask by a fan after his practice session. Alcaraz put the mask on, though he didn’t wear it for much longer. During his interview with the Tennis Channel after his clash with Medjedovic, Alcaraz was asked if he would have been a wrestler if he weren’t a tennis player.

Carlos Alcaraz wore a wrestling mask after his practice session
Carlos Alcaraz wore a wrestling mask after his practice session (Image via X/Tennis TV, Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

I had to think about it. I’ve been practicing wrestling when I was really, really young, with my brother. So, I knew exactly the moment that I put it on, he was going to have pictures, videos about it. I knew it. I knew it. And as you can see, it was just one second about it.

Alcaraz is chasing his sixth title of the year in Cincy, having lifted trophies in Rotterdam, Monte Carlo, Rome, Paris, and London (Queen’s Club Championships). The Spaniard also reached the final of the Barcelona Open and Wimbledon, but Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner denied him the title.

He has seven Masters 1000 trophies to his name, and two of these he won this year in Monte Carlo and Rome. Before Cincinnati, he last participated at Wimbledon and had skipped the Canadian Open to extend his break.

Alcaraz doesn’t have many points to defend for the rest of the season, as he suffered early exits in four tournaments last year, starting from the North American hard-court swing. Apart from Cincinnati, the Murcia native fell in the second round of the US Open last year.

He then beat Sinner in the China Open final before suffering a quarterfinal exit at the Shanghai Masters. At the ATP Tour Finals then, Alcaraz failed to book a spot in the semifinals. In short, he can dethrone Sinner from the top of the rankings table if he wins these events and Sinner fails to defend his titles.

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