"This tournament should've been cancelled long ago" - Tennis fans fume over alleged preferential treatment of Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid Open final

Tennis player turned commentator Daniela Hantuchova's claim that the Madrid Open organizers showed favoritism to Carlos Alcaraz in the final has sparked outrage among tennis fans.

After defending his title at the Barcelona Open, Alcaraz completed a successful title defense at the Madrid Open as well. He defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to notch up his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title.

Prior to the final, Hantuchova noticed that the ground staff watered the court twice. She suggested that this was an attempt to make the court slower and more favorable for Carlos Alcaraz, as it would enable him to return Struff's serve more easily.

Hantuchova expressed her surprise at this unusual occurrence, stating that it was the first time she had witnessed the court being watered twice during the tournament.

A fan shared the former No. 5's claim on social media and questioned its impact on the effectiveness of Struff's serve in the final. While the German rained down 14 aces in his quarterfinal match and 15 in the semifinal, he only managed four aces in the final against Alcaraz.

"Maybe we know why Struff's serve is not working that well," the user posted.

Another fan brought up tournament director Feliciano Lopez's justification for Carlos Alcaraz receiving a larger cake compared to Aryna Sabalenka, stating that the accusations of preferential treatment were warranted in this instance.

"I normally laugh off conspiracy theories about court corruption but when you have a tournament director so bold & blatant as to admit preferential treatment to Spanish players, the accusations are deserved," the fan commented.

"And this is a Masters 1000 tournament btw @atptour remove Madrid from the calendar," another fan chimed in.

One Twitter user questioned whether the women's doubles finalists were prevented from making speeches at the presentation ceremony in order to make more time to water the court.

"So that's why they rushed women's doubles off the court? More time for water gate," the user tweeted.

Here are some more fan reactions to the claims of Carlos Alcaraz receiving preferential treatment:

Carlos Alcaraz remains "clear favorite" for French Open regardless of Italian Open result, says Daniela Hantuchova

Carlos Alcaraz at the 2023 Madrid Open

Following Carlos Alcaraz's victory at the Madrid Open, Daniela Hantuchova endorsed the Spaniard as the favorite for the upcoming French Open regardless of his result at the Italian Open in Rome.

"Honestly nothing really has to happen even if he loses the first round, which is not going to happen. But maybe, he's still to me a very, very clear favorite ahead of Roland Garros," she said.

With his victory, Alcaraz has joined Rafael Nadal as the only two consecutive Madrid Open champions in the tournament's history.