Tennis insider rips Carlos Alcaraz as a 'spoiled brat' with a 'huge ego' over ATP gripe

Tennis insider Benoit Maylin has torn into Carlos Alcaraz, calling the seven-time Grand Slam champion "a real whiner" with "a huge ego" after the Spaniard complained about the ATP schedule and the balls in Shanghai.

Alcaraz crashed out of the Shanghai Masters in the round of 32 on Oct. 12, beaten in straight sets by unseeded Belgian Zizou Bergs. During the match he grumbled about the court surface and claimed the balls bounced inconsistently — behavior that pushed Maylin over the edge during a conversation at Sans Filet.

"Carlitos' a real whiner, and he needs to calm down a bit. And I like him, I love Carlitos, mind you, but I think he's got a huge ego," Maylin said. "He wants to dictate his schedule exactly how he wants."

He did not hold back on the Shanghai match itself, calling it "rubbish" and mocking Alcaraz's four winners: "What a joke!" Maylin argued the 23-year-old gets a pass others don't. "I don't see why we criticize other players as soon as they start doing things like that, and not him. I'm criticizing him — he behaved like a spoiled brat who, I think, believes he's invincible."

Maylin's broader point is that Alcaraz is drifting away from the joyful player who first broke through. "He wins Tokyo, he arrives in Shanghai saying, 'I'm the best.' He's going to have to go back to being the Carlos Alcaraz we had before, the one who has fun and not the one who whines."

Where the schedule beef started

The friction began before Shanghai, when Alcaraz told reporters the ATP was "pushing us too much" and that the calendar "is getting in the wrong direction," pointing to a wave of injuries on tour. He also backed Jannik Sinner, who withdrew from Shanghai with a knee problem.

"They [ATP officials] have to see a little bit what's going on on the tour along with the players," Alcaraz said.

Alcaraz returned to competition at the US Open after a four-month layoff from a wrist injury, then won the Japan Open in Tokyo before his Shanghai stumble. He is next expected at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, running Oct. 24 to Nov. 1.