Carlos Alcaraz fires back at Alexander Zverev’s ‘bulls***’ criticism after being accused of being ‘protected’
Carlos Alcaraz has hit back at Alexander Zverev’s criticism of his medical timeout, which he took during their five-hour Australian Open semi-final battle.
The Spaniard looked in total control of the encounter after claiming the first two sets 6-4, 7-6(5); however, at 4-4 in the third, he appeared to grab his upper leg after an awkward groundstroke movement.
Alcaraz immediately conveyed the concern to his team before utilising a three-minute medical timeout – in addition to the usual two minutes for the changeover.
The physio began to massage the general area, with commentators speculating that the issue might be a freak muscular injury.
Despite the concern, Zverev – on the other hand – was convinced that the issue was cramp-related, an issue for which you are not allowed a medical timeout.
“He has cramp,” the world No 3 complained to the umpire.
“He can’t take a medical, he is cramping. What else should it be?
“This is absolute bulls***. This is unbelievable. Cramps? What the f*** is that? You cannot be serious.”
“You protect the both of them (Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz). It’s unbelievable.”
Nonetheless, despite the issue turning out to be full-body cramps, the Spaniard claims that he was not immediately sure as to the diagnosis, stating that the physio advised him to take a medical timeout.
“I felt something only in one muscle, the adductor of my right leg,” Alcaraz said during his post-match press conference.
“The truth is that I didn’t think it was cramps, that’s why I called the physio and asked for a medical evaluation.
“In those moments, nothing else bothered me, the rest of my body was fine, good, decent.
“However, shortly after being treated, I think because of the nerves and stress of not knowing what exactly was wrong with me, I started to feel cramps all over my body.
“They granted me medical time because what I conveyed is that when I moved to the right, I had felt discomfort in my adductor. That was the truth.”
Nonetheless, it was Alcaraz who prevailed 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 in the longest match of the tournament at five hours and 27 minutes.
Zverev had the opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4, but was unable to close out his first win over a world No 1 at a Grand Slam.
The victory also extended Alcaraz’s record in five-set matches to 15 victories and one loss (93.3% win rate).
His sole loss came to Italian Matteo Berrettini at the 2022 Australian Open.
“Look, when I was younger there were times when I gave up during the match, I didn’t fight as hard as I should,” the world No 1 explained, when asked why he rarely appears to lose hope.
“Later, I realised how much I hated that feeling, and, thanks to having matured, I will never feel that again. Every second of suffering on the court is worth it.
“I always trusted in my chances, I always thought I could come back, I wasn’t willing to give up. It was clear to me that closing a game like this was going to be difficult.
“I started to feel better at the end of the fourth set, but at the beginning of the fifth Sascha displayed impressive tennis.
“The first games he made were beastly, but I haven’t looked dead at any time. I knew I had to keep fighting.
“Not taking advantage of some break points generated some concern for me, but it also made me see that I was close and that, if I kept fighting, I was going to end up breaking.
“It’s great to have achieved the win.”
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Despite the mid-match controversy, the pair created further Australian Open history after the match ticked into being the longest semi-final match of the tournament.
The previous record belonged to the famous 2009 clash between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, which ended 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-7(1), 6-4 in the former’s favour after five hours and 14 minutes.
Nadal went on to beat his great rival Roger Federer in a five-set epic, less than 48 hours after his previous match.
“This situation reminds me a lot of what Rafa did in 2009, when he had that incredible match with Verdasco and everyone doubted if he could play the final, and he ended up winning in five sets against Federer,” remarked Alcaraz.
“I’m not saying I’m going to do the same, but I think in a Grand Slam final you can’t say you’re tired.
“The adrenaline that is generated will help me if I manage to do things well in these next few hours.
“I know that tomorrow I’m going to wake up stiff.
“Now I’m going to dedicate a few hours to doing the entire recovery process to be as good as possible, it’s going to be hard for me to fall asleep a little after everything I’ve experienced, but I’m going to make an effort and give my best to get to Sunday in the best disposition possible.”
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