Best Moments from Garden Cup ft. Carlos Alcaraz's "it's not easy" admission vs Ben Shelton, Emma Navarro getting help from crowd vs Jessica Pegula

The Garden Cup featuring Carlos Alcaraz, among others, was a tennis exhibition event hosted at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York. This marked tennis being played in the legendary venue for the first time since 2018.

Three top American players- Ben Shelton, Jessica Pegula, and Emma Navarro were part of the exhibition. World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz joined the American trio. The event consisted of two singles matches, one between the men and one between the women.

Let's take a look at some of the light-hearted moments from the exhibition

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Dingles play during the practice

Dingles is a unique form of tennis whereby there is a combination of both singles and doubles. Four players take the court, with two on each side, and start two separated cross-court rallies from the baselines, playing two singles points simultaneously. Once one of the singles rally ends, the losing party calls out "Dingles", and then the four players engage in a doubles point with the one available ball.

During the Garden Cup, all four players were engaged in a casual practice session where they had a dingles point. Alcaraz paired with Navarro, and Pegula paired with Shelton. The Spaniard missed the ball during his singles rally against Pegula, but he and Navarro won the doubles point.

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Emma Navarro takes help from the fans in her match against Jessica Pegula

During the singles match between Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula, the former was seen taking advice from the audience, seemingly taking advice from the people in the stands on how to break her opponent's serve. The match was in the balance then at deuce in the fifth game of the second set with a deciding point to come.

The advice from the fans worked, as Navarro was able to work the Pegua serve with a good return. The young American then came to the net and played a backhand volley, winning the point with a backhand overhead shot.

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Carlos Alcaraz hilariously helps Ben Shelton to his feet

The Garden Cup was an exhibition event that did not have any points or ranking repercussions for the players. The event was solely for the benefit of the audience. As a result, the matches had a tinge of humor in them which is usually not seen on the Tour matches.

During the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton, the latter slipped while sliding during a point. While commentators on air were a bit concerned about a possible injury, Alcaraz went to the other side of the net and helped Shelton to his feet, while appearing to be comically hitting him.

Alcaraz won the match 4-6, 6-2, 7-4 in a thrilling match, giving the audience their money's worth.

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"It's not easy" Carlos Alcaraz finds it difficult to return Ben Shelton's serve

In his short career so far, Ben Shelton has already made a name for himself as a big server. The 22-year-old American has already delivered a serve which was clocked at 153/mph at this year's Wimbledon. Returning such as serving from a left-handed player is of the highest difficulty, as was echoed by Carlos Alcaraz.

During their match at the Garden Cup, the World No. 3 was facing some difficulties, while returning the American's serve.

" I am trying to do my best to return his serve but its not easy, not easy" said Alcaraz during the match.

On the ATP Tour, the pair have met two times, with the Spaniard winning both those encounters.