'If I know I did a wrong thing, I have to be honest with myself': Carlos Alcaraz shows sportsmanship after illegal shot

As well as an epic win today over Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz also stole the show for superb sportsmanship against the American as he sealed the win and admitted to an illegal shot in a pivotal juncture.

Alcaraz said that he doesn't have it in him not to admit to it in this case knowing he was in the wrong as he returned a shot with his racket out of his hand. He gave the point though to Shelton and said that it is due to the respect he has for him as well.

“I just thought I couldn’t not say anything no would have felt guilty if I didn’t say anything about it. It’s just about.. if I know I did a wrong thing, an illegal shot, I have to be honest with myself. With Ben. With everyone. I think that’s the sport. It should be like this. Just to be fair with the opponent and with yourself. I said it because I knew it was an illegal shot. It shouldn’t be allowed. At the first set Ben had a thing, for example, his serve touched the net, the umpire didn’t see it. He asked me ‘We can repeat it if you want.’ It’s just about the respect we have for each other. I think the sport should be like this.”

But next is another American he also has a lot of respect for in Tommy Paul as he mused on their upcoming tie in the Quarter-Finals which heralded an American dream combo as both Paul and Frances Tiafoe snapped a long streak of Americans not reaching the Quarter-Finals.

“I remember every match I played against him was really tough. It was really difficult. In Grand Slams. In Masters 1000s. All the tournaments I’ve played him in, it wasn’t easy at all. I lost a few matches against him as well. He’s in the quarterfinal of another grand slam. His level is really high right now. He has a lot of confidence. It’s gonna be an interesting match. I’ll try to just keep going. Trying to be better.

"I’ll try to learn from the mistakes I made today. Not gonna make the same against Tommy. But I think for the people it’s gonna be a really interesting match to watch. Every time we play each other, we raise our level to the top as well. We make really good rallies, good points. I think it’s gonna be great to watch as well. It’s gonna be a good quarterfinal.”