Carlos Alcaraz is one of tennis’ most celebrated figures at the moment, adored by all.
After all, he blends technical and physical brilliance with an abundance of personality, whether that be through his unpredictable play style or beaming smile on court.
However, it is the expectation that he is always happy that makes any frustration or anger he ever exhibits that much more shocking.
In Qatar, after being wronged by the chair umpire, Carlos Alcaraz was arguably as infuriated as we have ever seen him.
Kim Clijsters, however, loved to see it.
Why Kim Clijsters loved seeing Carlos Alcaraz argue with the chair umpire
Chatting on her Love All podcast, the four-time Grand Slam champion explained exactly why she revelled in watching Alcaraz, who is usually so happy and easygoing, finally snap on court.
Clijsters claimed: “I loved that Alcaraz actually is saying that stuff, because I think, for him to do it, it must be really frustrating, or something must be triggering, and it comes from a place where he’s actually very annoyed by it.
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“So I enjoyed that he spoke up and that maybe behind the scenes, you know, where he mentioned the ATP rules and, you know, maybe they’ll change a little bit about the shot clock because I agree.
“Like, I think we saw something at the Australian Open with Novak in the semifinals, in the fifth set, where he got a time violation that after a super long rally and you know there’s times like that where I feel like as a chair umpire, just read the room a little bit as well because for me, as a tennis fan, when I’m watching this, you have to be able to give these players just their moment to just recover and a little bit whether it’s one or two seconds more is really not going to make a big deal.”
Alas, this is not the only grievance the Spaniard has ever aired, with Alcaraz complaining about the tennis schedule at length too.
What was Carlos Alcaraz so annoyed about?
Seeing Alcaraz so frustrated was a rare sight, as he questioned the decision-making of chair umpire Marija Cicak during his match with Karen Khachanov.
With the scores tied at 4-4 in the first set, the Spaniard had just won a marathon point and celebrated accordingly.
He then returned to his side of the court, wiped his face with his towel, and prepared to serve again.
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However, Cicak promptly issued Alcaraz with a time violation, arguing it was a decision out of her control.
He suggested that there should be some leniency after such a lung-busting rally, and his fury continued well after that game as he grumbled angrily through the changeover as well.
Even after the match, Alcaraz called for tennis to change their ‘absurd’ rule in reaction to this perceived injustice, despite winning the match.
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