World No 3 Alexander Zverev flew into a rage as he accused top-two stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner of being ‘protected’ by the tour after the Spaniard took a contentious medical timeout during their Australian Open semi-final.
The world No 1 had swiped the first two sets of his clash with the German but began to struggle in the Melbourne heat deep in the third, taking his time to stretch out his groin after losing a point at 4-4.
Chair umpire Marijana Veljovic opted not to give the 22-year-old a time violation, with Zverev accusing Alcaraz of struggling with cramp and unnecessarily holding up play.
At the end of his game, Alcaraz summoned the physio to receive treatment – in Zverev’s eyes, against the rules of calling for a medical timeout which preclude muscle cramping.
‘He has cramp!’ Zverev complained to Grand Slam supervisor Andreas Egli in a mixture of English and German. ‘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.’
Zverev vented his fury by repeating multiple times that the decision to allow Alcaraz recovery time, via a thigh massage from a physio, was ‘unbelievable’, ‘not possible’, and ‘bulls***’.
Alexander Zverev grew increasingly incensed as he argued with supervisor Andreas Egli
The German flew into a rage after Carlos Alcaraz called a medical timeout after appearing to struggle with mere cramp
But in another twist, the 28-year-old stressed that he felt Alcaraz was receiving such leniency because of his position in tennis.
‘You are protecting both of them (Alcaraz and Sinner), this is unbelievable,’ Zverev fumed. ‘Unbelievable. This is not possible. This is not possible. You cannot be serious.’
Sinner and Alcaraz stand apart at the top of men’s tennis, having split the last four Grand Slam titles between them after meeting in the finals.
The last time a player not named Sinner or Alcaraz won a Grand Slam came nearly three years ago, with Novak Djokovic taking the 2023 US Open.
Cramping, while officially ruled out as a condition which can prompt a medical timeout, can prove a grey area, with Alcaraz perhaps concerned that he had picked up a thigh injury instead of losing conditioning.
Alcaraz returned to court and took on pickle juice to further aid his symptoms, but went on to lose the third and fourth sets, pushing the match to a decider.
Zverev will be looking to become the first player to beat Alcaraz in five sets – the Spaniard’s specialty of sorts – since the 2022, when he was beaten by former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini across all five sets.
