Carlos Alcaraz, the Spanish tennis star, joked that his feelings were hurt after falling for an April Fool’s Day prank. The prank was set up by Babolat, a French tennis, badminton, and padel equipment company, which made Alcaraz believe he hit a tennis ball over a house roof and landed it perfectly inside a target. Members of the Babolat team celebrated as if Alcaraz had indeed made the shot during a ball-hitting challenge, where he was supposed to land the ball inside a basket placed across a house.
At first, Alcaraz believed what the team told him. However, knowing it was April Fool’s Day, he asked to see the video to confirm whether he actually hit the target. The team complied, and the video revealed that he missed the mark. Alcaraz then laughed and joked about his feelings being hurt after realizing he had been pranked.
Alcaraz participated in the challenge after being invited by a Babolat team member. He made three attempts before the team pretended that his fourth shot hit the target. The Spanish player eventually caught on, saying, “It was so obvious.”
Carlos Alcaraz is set to begin his clay court campaign at the Monte Carlo Masters, starting on April 8. This will be his second time competing in the tournament, with his only previous appearance being in 2022, where he lost in three sets to Sebastian Korda. Alcaraz had to withdraw from the tournament in 2023 due to physical discomfort but went on to win titles in Barcelona and Madrid during the clay court season last year.
As the current Indian Wells Masters champion, Alcaraz edged out Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the finals, ending his title drought since Wimbledon 2023. He became the first man to defend his title at Indian Wells since Novak Djokovic, who won three consecutive trophies at the tournament between 2014 and 2016.
