Carlos Alcaraz battled through cramp against Alexander Zverev to reach his first final at the Australian Open.
Zverev was left furious with the umpire when Alcaraz received medical attention because of the issue, before recovering to win the match.
After losing 6-4, 7-6(7-5), 6-7(3-7), 6-7(4-7), 7-5, Zverev reaffirmed he didn’t like Alcaraz’s medical timeout at Rod Laver Arena.
The winner also addressed his injury woes post-match, when the Australian Open finalist was asked if there was ever a moment where he thought about retiring hurt against Zverev.
Were the Australian Open too lenient with Carlos Alcaraz?
Carlos Alcaraz never thought about retiring hurt vs Alexander Zverev
When reminded of a moment early in the fourth set where it seemed he was making an apparent move to shake his opponent’s hand, Alcaraz confirmed: “No, no, no, no.
“I saw the video, and I saw the people talking about it, but there wasn’t a single second that I thought about retiring.
“It was about there are sometimes that I just let him, you know, go through before. There are some moments that he let me, you know, go first.
“I mean, that video was who is going to go through first, so that was all.”
Has Alexander Zverev just blown his last chance to win a Grand Slam?
Carlos Alcaraz exhausted after five-hour, 27-minute Australian Open epic
Fans suggested that Alcaraz did indeed produce the iconic basketball ‘pump fake’ against Zverev, but he has confirmed that it definitely wasn’t the case.
And that is not surprising at all, with the ATP number one demonstrating that he is definitely not one to give up when the going gets tough.
He emerged victorious from a five-hour, 27-minute battle with his rival, much to the delight of the Australian Open fans.
And while he would have been glad to have given them an unforgettable show, Alcaraz has since admitted his exhaustion.
After undertaking his media duties, he wrote on X in Spanish: “How hard it is to express oneself after 5h30m…”
It’s the longest Australian Open semifinal in history, which is far from ideal ahead of his maiden Melbourne final.
Working in his favor, however, is the fact that he didn’t drop a set in any of his previous matches, which included potentially tricky tests against Alex de Minaur and Tommy Paul.
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