Carlos Alcaraz appeared to be on his way to a rather smooth victory over Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the Australian Open on Friday before suffering some discomfort in his upper right leg. Alcaraz, who had taken the first two sets and led 5-4 in the third, was awarded a timeout to deal with the issue—a decision his opponent did not believe was appropriate.
"He has cramps," Zverev told a supervisor during the three-minute break in which trainers worked on Alacaraz. "This is absolute b------. That is unbelievable. You can not be serious. You protect both of them. It's unbelievable."
Zverev to supervisor while Carlos Alcaraz received a medical timeout while cramping after the changeover was done
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 30, 2026
"He has cramps. This is absolute bullshit. That is unbelieveable. You can not be serious. You protect the both of them. Its unbeliveable" pic.twitter.com/CX0GvCq1ai
Tournament rules allow timeouts for injuries but not muscle cramps.
Zverev would rally to take the set and then the next one, but Alcaraz prevailed in the fifth, keeping his quest for the Career Grand Slam alive. He'll now move on to the finals to take on the winner of Jannik Sinner-Novak Djokovic.
Though he was intense in the moment, Zverev did not want to dwell on the incident after the match.
Zverev on Alcaraz’s medical timeout:
— Khan (@ccricket713) January 30, 2026
“I didn’t like it, but it’s not my decision… I basically said it was bullshit.
Honestly, this match was one of the best battles ever in Australia — it doesn’t deserve to be about this.” 🔥🎾pic.twitter.com/WzPK9LtUTG
“To be honest, I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia,” he said. “It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alexander Zverev Took Issue With Carlos Alcaraz Being Awarded Controversial Timeout.
