Laura Robson has been left ‘properly shocked’ by Carlos Alcaraz after he lost his temper in his second round defeat at the Cincinatti Open.

The four-time grand slam winner was facing veteran French star Gael Monfils when his frustrations clearly got the better of him.

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Alcaraz had claimed the first set 6-3 on Friday, before taking the lead in the second set tie-break before rain forced the match to be resumed on Friday.

Monfils ended up claiming the second set, before going 2-1 up with a break in the decisive third set.

The Spaniard then tried to convert a break of his own in the next game, but failed to do so.

That led to an angry outburst in which Alcaraz smashed his racket repeatedly onto the court in a show of frustration.

Part of Sky Sports’ commentary team, former British number one Laura Robson, couldn’t hide her shock.

“Goodness,” said Robson. “When do you see that from him?

“That has properly shocked me. When was the last time he broke a racket? He has melted that thing.”

Her colleague Jonathan Overend then replied: “When have you seen that before in the life of Carlos Alcaraz?

“That’s almost like his whole career of frustration coming out in one split second.”

Unfortunately for Alcaraz, he couldn’t find a way back into he game as Monfils earned a 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 comeback win.

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As a result, it means that the Spanish superstar goes into the US Open with a 0-1 record on the North American hard courts this summer.

Alcaraz has already enjoyed quite a year, winning the French Open and Wimbledon to take his overall grand slam tally to four.

He then won silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final, before pulling out of last week’s Canadian Open to rest.

Victory at Flushing Meadows would see him end 2024 with three of the four grand slam titles and secure his second US Open crown.

It was in 2022 when Alcaraz won his first-ever grand slam in New York and the 21-year-old will be desperate to win it again to cement his status as the top star in world tennis right now.