Carlos Alcaraz had a damning verdict of his performance at the Cincinnati Open after crashing out in the opening round.

The world No. 3 imploded in a rare meltdown, destroying his racket early in the third set before going on to lose to Gael Monfils 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4.

He later complained about the “insane” surface and said he didn’t want to be on the court anymore, declaring: “It was the worst match that I have ever played in my career.”

Last year’s runner-up was brutally honest after losing his opening match in Cincinnati. Explaining the defeat, he said: “Well honestly, [it] was really, really tough for me. I felt like it was the worst match that I have ever played in my career. [I] couldn’t play, honestly.”

Alcaraz had a quick turnaround between winning a silver medal at the Paris Olympics and heading State-side for the Cincinnati Open but he said he had been feeling good in pre-tournament practice sessions, though the conditions on Centre Court completely threw him. He continued: “Probably I felt like it was another sport playing on the Centre Court than the other courts.

“The balls were faster on the Centre Court, bounce much, much more than other courts. I warmed up before the match and as I said, it was a totally different feeling, I don’t know why. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know what happened, I don’t know how I felt like this way. But honestly, I couldn’t control myself, I couldn’t be better so this match, it was impossible to win and that’s all.”

When they started the match on Thursday, the 21-year-old took the first set but Monfils was a mini-break up in the tiebreak as the rain came, halting the match and forcing the players to return on Friday. The Frenchman forced a decider and broke Alcaraz early on. When Alcaraz blew a break point to get back on serve, tempers flared.

Alcaraz’s outburst in the final set was completely out of character, as the Spaniard has never been known to smash a racket, much less hurl it into the ground multiple times until it was destroyed. Explaining his actions, the four-time Grand Slam champion added: “Well, I [have] felt sometimes that I wanted to break the racket. It never happened before because Icould control myself in those situations, in those feelings.

“And most of the time I could control myself and I could get better in the matches or in the situations that I’ve been feeling before. Today I couldn’t control myself because, as I said, I was feeling that I was not playing any kind of tennis so it was really frustrating for me. There was at some point that I wanted to leave the court, I don’t want to be on the court anymore. It was [a] really hurtful moment for me and that’s it. I think some players a lot of players during their careers and during some certain moments, they can’t control themselves and it was one of those moments for me.”