John McEnroe’s career was centered around being the loudest man on any tennis court. The seven-time Grand Slam champion, who turned arguments with umpires into incidents involving throwing rackets and furious outbursts, became part of the folklore of the sport. If anyone is qualified to judge how a player handles frustration, it is him. 

Speaking as a guest on the Spanish radio show El Larguero, McEnroe said he still cannot get his head around the fact that Rafael Nadal never smashed a racket in his career. 

“That’s something I don’t understand. He never broke a racket. What’s wrong with him?” he said. It was hard for the American to believe that Nadal, who is considered the fiercest competitor, still never cracked once under pressure. McEnroe wondered whether Nadal was even built like the rest of the tour.

“I don’t understand. Maybe he’s a robot and not human. To have that much self-control…” he said. The comment was made with a smile, but it highlighted the stark difference between two players – McEnroe was the rebel of his era, and Nadal was the opposite. 

The Spaniard brought huge intensity to every point he played. He grunted through long rallies, roared after winning big points, and played with a relentless energy that can unsettle any opponent. Yet, all that fury never spilled beyond the rules. In a 23-year career that ended with 22 Grand Slam titles, he never destroyed a racket in anger.

The reason goes back to his childhood, his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal. He told a six-year-old Nadal that he would stop coaching if he threw a racket. There were two reasons why Toni imparted that value in his nephew. 

“First, because of respect, especially about things that aren’t easy to acquire,” he stated to La Razón. The second was “for giving into despair.” Nadal absorbed the lesson fully, and he later explained it in his own way. 

“For me, to break a racquet it would be to lose control of my emotions,” he said in 2020, in comments translated from Spanish.

That upbringing is part of the reason why Nadal’s armour could not be cracked. McEnroe pointed to others who have shown one, and the names he picked make the story more interesting.

Even Federer and Alcaraz have lost it

McEnroe pointed out that two players with very calm reputations have still broken rackets. “Even Roger or Carlos have broken a racket,” he said. 

Roger Federer was known for his calm composure and effortless elegance on and off court for over two decades. Even he lost his cool in a 2009 Miami semifinal against Novak Djokovic, where he smashed his racket in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 defeat. 

Asked later whether it had felt good, Federer replied: “Not really.” He insisted he had not lost it, explaining that he was “just frustrated.” 

In a career which stretched for more than two decades, the 20-time Grand Slam champion broke his equipment for exactly five times. 

Carlos Alcaraz is known for playing with a smile, but he too has had a moment of his own. In the second round of the 2024 Cincinnati Masters, he lost 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-6 to Gael Monfils in his first match after the Paris Olympics. After Monfils held for a 3-1 lead in the third set, Alcaraz repeatedly smashed his racket on the court. He apologized on social media the next day. 

“I apologize because my attitude yesterday was not correct,” he wrote. He added that it had never happened before because he had always been able to control himself in those situations. McEnroe was not finished with the question. 

He turned it towards the audience and asked whether anyone knew if Jannik Sinner had ever broken a racket. The Italian has never broken a racket on the ATP tour, but he lost his cool a couple of times at the Junior circuit. Even the calmest players have reached their breaking point once in their career, but Nadal never did.