Rafael Nadal clarified in an interview conducted almost five years ago that breaking a racket on court would never have been permitted by his family. Leading French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was made to apologize after breaking his racket in his shocking second-round Cincinnati Masters loss to Gael Monfils on Friday.

Throughout his remarkable career, Rafael Nadal has participated in 30 Grand Slam finals and experienced success in 22 of them.

Even under the most intense pressure, the Spaniard has never been able to lose his cool on the court and has always controlled his emotions.

In 2019, Nadal was asked how many rackets he had broken in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes. And a radiant smile spread across his face as he indicated the response by creating the shape of a zero with his finger and thumb.

“My family, they wouldn’t have allowed me to break a racket,” he continued. I interpret shattering a racket as an indication that my emotions are out of control.

Given his reticence to express his rage, Nadal might have some counsel for Alcaraz, his doubles partner at the Paris Olympics.

In a rare outburst, the four-time Grand Slam winner destroyed his racket after Monfils denied him a break point in the third set. The umpire issued him a code penalty when he repeatedly smashed his racket onto the ground during the tantrum.

Alcaraz, who had taken the first set, was finally defeated 4-6, 7-6, and 6-4 by his opponent, who was unable to fight his way to victory.

And he clarified after the game, saying, “There were moments when I felt like smashing the racket. I was able to control myself in those sentiments and settings, so it had never happened before.

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“Most of the time, I was able to maintain self-control, which allowed the matches or the circumstance I was in to proceed more smoothly.

Like I mentioned, I felt like I wasn’t really playing tennis today, so I lost all self-control. I believe that many athletes have moments in their careers when they lose self-control, and that was one of those times for me.

Then, on Saturday, he posted on Instagram, saying, “I want to apologise for my attitude yesterday; it was not good and that should not happen on court.” Because I’m human, I have accumulated nerves, and when there’s tension, it can be really difficult to control. My goal is to prevent it from happening in the future.