"It hurt me a lot" explains Carlos Alcaraz on epic meltdown against Gaston in Paris

The Bercy crowd at the Paris Masters is known to be very loud especially when a native French player is playing. That was the case when Carlos Alcaraz took on Hugo Gaston this year with the crowd going bonkers. Alcaraz had a 4-2 lead in the first set and a 5-0 lead in the 2nd set but managed to lose both sets in an epic meltdown. As the crowd was going nuts Alcaraz was shown sitting confused on the bench and recalling that he wrote:

“I knew it would be difficult to deal with the atmosphere that existed but I could not imagine that it could be so heavy. My first time in this situation was not easy for me, it hurt me a lot not to know how to deal with that pressure but like everything in life, we fall but we get up and move on, the most important thing is to learn from these situations and I am sure that I will come back stronger and with lessons learned."

Alcaraz received support from many other athletes iwth compatriot Paula Badosa writing:

“Cheer up Carlitos. In life, we always have new experiences that we are not used to and we must learn to manage them little by little. This is going to be yet another challenge to overcome. You have the talent and the ability to improve yourself. You are a champion and everything will come to you.”

Badosa has spoken publicly in the past of her own mental struggles and not being able to cope with the pressure at a very young age.