Carlos Alcaraz accused of 'tapping out' early against Felix Auger-Aliassime by tennis pundit

The retirement of Carlos Alcaraz took many by surprise including his opponent Felix Auger-Aliassime who admitted after the match that he was not sure what had happened. Auger-Aliassime did not speculate whether Alcaraz was injured or not simply noting he hope to see him back soon. Alcaraz seemed okay for the majority of the match minus his play which was not up to par.

After a lengthy consultation with the physio, he retired from the match. The retirement did not sit well with ESPN pundit Chris Fowler who boasts a considerable following on Twitter (795k). He wrote:

"Very disappointing ending to a strong run by Carlos Alcaraz. Was being outplayed by [Auger-Aliassime] and looked low on energy but to tap early in a major QF? Certainly hope it won’t be a pattern for an 18-year-old with much talent.”

A bold statement in itself, it divided the opinion of fans in the comments. Some backed the comments while others disagreed. One fan that agreed with Fowler wrote:

"Someone should show Alcaraz the 3rd set of Andreescu Sakkari-Andreescu Match; Bianca fought hard on one leg, never a hint of giving up."

Another fan disagreed writing:

"Really disappointing tweet here from Fowler. It’s the kind of press that churns and burns young players a la Naomi Osaka. Be better. Though I get your livelihood comes off the back of young athletes."

The young Spanish phenom played two very tough matches beforehand which clearly affected him. After the match he said he had no choice:

“I had no choice. First of all, I have to take care of my body. I didn't feel good to still play, so I had to retire.”