‘You’ve never played tennis in your life’ - Irate Carlos Alcaraz hits out at Irish umpire before winning another title

Just nine days after he slipped to a shock defeat against Taylor Fritz at the Laver Cup event in San Francisco, the duo were back on court to contest the final of an ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo.

World No 1 Alcaraz produced a spectacular performance (6-4, 6-4) to gain some swift revenge on Fritz, but the match did feature a rare loss of composure from the Spanish champion.

Alcaraz made his feelings known to Murphy after he complained he was being rushed into playing a point after a long exchange, with the umpire issuing the US Open champion with code violation for running over his allocated time.

“Do you think this is normal? Is this normal or not? I’m asking a question, is it normal or not?” asked Alcaraz, as he argued he should have been given more time to start the next point.

“I finish a point at the net, I’m a little bit tired about the point, and I can’t go to ask for the balls. Do you think this is normal or not?”

He did not like the response he got from Murphy and responded by saying: “You haven’t played tennis in your life, come on. You never played tennis in your life. You never played tennis because you said this is normal.”

Alcaraz recovered his composure to win the match with one of his trademark drop shots, as he won his eighth title of a season that has seen him lift the French Open and US Open titles and return to the world No 1 spot.

“It’s been my best season so far without a doubt,” Alcaraz said. “Eight titles, 10 finals. That shows how hard I’ve worked just to be able to experience these moments and accomplish my goals.

"I didn’t start the year that good, struggling emotionally, so how I came back from that, I’m just really proud of myself, and of all the people around me who have helped me to be in this position.”

This win was all the more remarkable as Alcaraz appeared to pick up an ankle injury earlier in the tournament, but he shrugged off that problem to confirm his class once again.

“I enjoyed every single second, [apart from] the five minutes I was on the floor after I hurt my ankle,” added Alcaraz.

“I’m really happy with the level that I played, with everything. Starting the week not good with the ankle, and the way that I came back from that, I’m just really happy about it.”

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