Former British No 1 makes Carlos Alcaraz claim after ‘using’ rules to his advantage

Kevin Palmer 30 Jan 2026 6:00 PM

Carlos Alcaraz and Greg Rusedski

Carlos Alcaraz took advantage of guidelines relating to injury time-outs when he received a timely break in his epic semi-final against Alexander Zverev, according to former British No 1, Greg Rusedski.

Alcaraz was struggling with illness and appeared to be cramping when he called for the trainer, but players are not allowed to receive injury breaks when they are suffering from issues linked to fatigue.

Zverev was vocal in his criticism of the decision to give Alcaraz time to have his legs massaged and was involved in a heated exchange with a tournament official as the treatment was being administered, with Alcaraz later claiming he was not treated for cramp and instead believed he had a muscle injury.

“In the beginning, it was on just one muscle, so I didn’t think it was cramp at all,” he said after his incredible 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 victory.

“I didn’t know exactly what it was because I just go around to a forehand and then I started to feel it in the right adductor, so that’s why I called the physio. I just told what happens to the physio and he decides to take the medical.”

More Tennis News

Carlos Alcaraz breaks 32-year-old record with historic run to Australian Open final

Alexander Zverev asked about Carlos Alcaraz’s ‘cramping’ medical time out after Australian Open epic

Zverev confirmed his view on this incident in his post-match interview as he said: “He was cramping, so normally you can’t take a medical timeout for cramping. I just said it was bull****, basically.”

Now Rudedski has given his verdict on the Alcaraz’s injury time-out controversy, as he gave his views on the latest Off Court Cuts edition of his podcast.

“I think he used them [the rules] to his advantage,” said Rusedski.

“I think you’ve got to look at the whole situation. We saw him go over to his team, speak in Spanish and basically say, look, I’m feeling ill. I’m feeling unwell. I can’t drink anything. I can’t keep anything down.

“We see him being sick in the towel on two occasions, you know, keeping it very discreetly. And then all of a sudden, you know, he’s cramping out there. There’s no question about it.

“I was listening to the comms. [Jim] Courier was saying there’s no doubt he shouldn’t be getting this extra time, this extra two or three minutes as a medical timeout.

“Zverev was in his right to get super angry. It fired him up. It got him to win the next two sets, push it to a decider. He was leading all the way, but with Carlos, all you have to do is give him an inch and he’ll take a mile.”

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.

Rusedski went on to suggest Zverev will have sleepless night over this latest near miss in a Grand Slam as he added: “This is one where Sasha’s Zverev is not going to sleep because he should have been in the finals.

“I feel bad for Zverev at the moment because I feel like he should have found a way to push through. He’s on the brink. He’s so close. And for me right now, he’s the best player to ever play the game that hasn’t won a major yet.”