Carlos Alcaraz came through a gruelling five-set battle against Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open, though there was a moment in the third set where his hopes of reaching the final looked to be in doubt.
Alcaraz was struggling with cramp and took a medical timeout, which did not go down well with Zverev.
The German could be heard having a go at an official, calling it ‘unbelievable’ that the world number one had been allowed to pause play.
While players can call for timeouts due to injuries or illnesses, cramping does not count. It has seen as an issue with conditioning rather than an actual injury.
After coming through the five-hour and 27-minute contest, Alcaraz addressed what had happened during his post-match interview.
Carlos Alcaraz talks through his medical timeout at the Australian Open
Alcaraz addressed Zverev’s frustration during his post-match press conference, explaining: “Well, I mean, it was really demanding, the match.
“But obviously, when I just felt cramps before, and in the beginning, when it was on a specific just one muscle, so I didn’t think [it] was cramp at all at the beginning.
“So I didn’t know exactly what it was, because I just go around to a forehand and then I started to feel it just in the right adductor, so that’s why I just called the physio, because it was just that moment, the rest of the legs, the left leg was good. I mean, not good, but decent.
“You know, and after that, with all the stress that I didn’t know what’s going on, didn’t know if it’s going to be worse or not, you know, it came, it came everything after all.
“But, you know, in that moment I just talked to the physio. I said, okay, I just went to run to the forehand side, and I started to feel like the right adductor. He decided to take the medical timeout, and he did it.
“Then I just took, I think, the three remedies on just the changeover, and that’s it. You know, once again, I just told what happens to the physio, and he decides to take medical.”
Zverev opened up on his stance before Alcaraz met with reporters: “I didn’t like it,” he said. “But it’s not my decision.”
Carlos Alcaraz backs himself after battling through cramp
Zverev fought back from two sets down to force a deciding fifth set and even grabbed an early break. But Alcaraz dug deep to hold off the comeback and kept his Career Grand Slam hopes alive.
“I just hate giving up,” the Spaniard said after the match. “Just how I could feel after all, you know, I just don’t want to feel that way.”
“There are some moments that it seems like, okay, I [am] just giving up or just I’m not fighting at all, which, when I was younger, there were a lot of matches that I just didn’t want to fight anymore or just I gave up. Then I just got mature, and I just hate that feeling after all.
“You know, every step more, every just one second more of suffering, one second more of fighting is always worth it.
“So that’s why I just fight until the last ball and always believe that I can come back in every situation.”
The win sends Alcaraz through to his fourth straight Grand Slam final where he will look to add a seventh major title to his collection.
- READ MORE: CoCo Vandeweghe shares verdict on Carlos Alcaraz disputed behaviour over Alexander Zverev
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