Carlos Alcaraz has explained his furious behaviour during Sunday's Wimbledon final defeat to Jannik Sinner, with the Spaniard seen having a tense exchange with his box during the clash.
Sinner won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to secure glory at the All England Club, just weeks after he'd lost to the same opponent at the French Open.
As the match started to slip away, Alcaraz could be seen gesturing angrily towards his own box.
He was also heard saying that Sinner was playing 'much better than him' and made a large gap with his hands to hammer home the gulf in quality.
Carlos Alcaraz has explained his furious behaviour during Sunday's Wimbledon final defeat to Jannik Sinner, with the Spaniard seen having a tense exchange with his box during the clash
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The incident was spotted by BBC commentator Andrew Castle, who said: "Nobody else can make Alcaraz as confused as this. "He has been tested. He has been upset for a while now. He cannot have it all his own way against Sinner, ever."
Alcaraz has now explained his behaviour, with the 22-year-old admitting that he was frustrated because Sinner 'raised his level'.
He explained: "Sinner, from the second set onwards, raised his level from the baseline.
"At that point, I didn’t know what to do; I felt that he was being more complete than me.
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“Champions learn from their – I’m not going to say failures – but they learn from the losses.
"I knew at the beginning that he was going to learn from that final, not going to make the same mistakes as he did in the French Open final.
"The way he played today, it was really high. I knew he was going to play like this.”
He continued: “He was pushing me to the limit in every point.
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Carlos Alcaraz was consoled by Jannik Sinner after losing Sunday's Wimbledon final
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“Mentally, sometimes it’s really tough to maintain the good focus during the whole match when you see the opponent just playing such great tennis."
Alcaraz's rivalry with Sinner looks set to dominate tennis for many years to come.
They have already faced off in two Grand Slam finals and are levels ahead of the rest of the pack.
Alcaraz could be forgiven for feeling frustrated at his rival. Instead, however, the Spaniard is pleased that the pair have broken through.
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“We push each other to keep improving. First of all, just really happy about having this rivalry with him," he said.
"I think it’s great for us, and it’s great for tennis. Every time we play each other, I think our level is really high.
"We don’t watch a level like this, if I’m honest with you… I don’t see any players playing against each other having the level that we’re playing when we face each other.
"This rivalry is becoming better and better. We’re building a really great rivalry, because we’re playing the final of a Grand Slam, final of Masters… it means the best tournaments in the world. It’s gonna be better and better.
Carlos Alcaraz insists he's delighted with his rivalry with Jannik Sinner despite losing to the Italian in the final of Wimbledon
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“I’m really grateful for that. It gives me the opportunity to just give my 100 per cent every practice and every day.
"The level I have to maintain and raise if I want to beat Jannik is really high. I’m just really grateful for that."