“I would have felt guilty if I hadn’t said anything” – Alcaraz on out-of-racquet shot against Shelton
The Spaniard forfeited a shot deemed to be legal by both his opponent and most observing fans
Carlos Alcaraz, Roland-Garros, 2025 © Michtof / Psnewz
“Carlos Alcaraz is a magician.” A phrase that has become a refrain as the Spaniard has become accustomed to enchanting the crowds.
On Sunday, during his 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Ben Shelton in the round of 16 of Roland-Garros, he proved to be a true illusionist. He managed to win a point by throwing his racquet at the ball, which is forbidden, while making everyone believe – his opponent, the umpire, the 15,000 tricky souls on the Philippe-Chatrier court – that he still had it in hand.
At 30-30 on his serve in the opening game of the second set, he approached the net, he stretched out as much as possible to his left to react to a passing shot that seemed impossible to reach.
Miraculous. Too much to be true. Then, in the aftermath, while the crowd and his opponent were smiling in disbelief, Alcaraz made a revelation – he was no longer holding his racquet at the moment of contact with the ball. Revealing this fact the Spaniard then indicated to the umpire that the point should therefore be awarded to the American; which earned him a break point.
“I thought his volley was valid,” Shelton said after the game. “I thought he had let go of the racket after touching the ball. I was surprised that he said: ‘No, I let go of my racket before’. He’s such a fair play guy, there are never any problems with him. It was a completely crazy move, it’s a bit of a shame that it doesn’t count.”
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protégé, too, was asked about this episode.
“I couldn’t say nothing,” he first replied in the English-language part of his press conference. “I would have felt guilty if I hadn’t said anything. If I know that my move is illegal, I have to be honest with myself, with Ben, with everyone. I think that sport should be like that, you have to be straight with the opponent, with yourself.”
Questioned later by Spanish press, he added: “Yes, too bad, it was the hot shot of the day. But I wouldn’t have agreed with myself if I hadn’t said anything. Sport must reflect values, and fair play is one of them. I didn’t think for a second about not saying anything, even if it was at an important moment in the match.”
fair-play gesture wins plaudits
In a duel that took place in a very good spirit between two players who like each other, Alcaraz also revealed a beautiful gesture from Shelton. “In the first set, he made a serve that I think hit the net,” he said. “The referee didn’t get the report, but Ben told me we could replay the point if I wanted.”
One of the fairest men on the circuit along with Casper Ruud, the four-time Grand Slam winner has shown this regularly since his debut. In the semi-finals of the Miami Masters 1000 in 2022, at 6-5 and 30-0 in his favour, the umpire awarded him the point by signalling – wrongly as the replays showed – a double bounce against a Hubert Hurkacz.
Another example, in 2021, at the age of 17, in the first round of the ATP 250 in Estoril where he had made it out of qualifying, he had a break point at 2-2 in the last set against Marin Čilić. On it, the linesman announced a foul by the Croatian, but before the latter had sketched the beginning of a challenge, the native of El Palmar went to look at the mark to signal it was good, without even asking the umpire to come and check.
Although he ultimately lost the match, Alcaraz had already begun to earn all the respect of the circuit.
