Gracious in defeat, Alexander Zverev hopes his five-set near miss against Carlos Alcaraz is remembered as an Australian Open classic rather than defined by controversy.
Zverev was livid when a cramping Alcaraz was allowed a medical timeout late in the third set of the world number one’s epic 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 semifinal victory at Melbourne Park on Friday.
It’s f***ing bulls**t,” the German screamed at his box after raging at the tournament supervisor.
Tennis rules do not permit players to receive a medical timeout for cramping.
But after cooling down following the five-hour, 27-minute epic, Zverev softened and accepted his fate.
“I mean, he was cramping, so normally you can’t take a medical timeout for cramping. Yeah. What can I do? It’s not my decision,” the world number three said.
“I didn’t like it, but it’s not my decision. I just said it was bulls**t, basically.
“But, 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. It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
Meanwhile, Alcaraz said he initially was not sure if he was cramping or if it was an issue with his right adductor.
“I didn’t think it was cramps at all at the beginning,” he said during his post-match press conference.
“I didn’t know exactly what it was. I ran to a forehand and started to feel it in the right adductor, that’s why I called the physio.”
Alcaraz said the physio then decided to take the medical timeout.
Zverev, who was exhausted after the clash, said he could not give anymore in the deciding set.
“An unfortunate ending for me but, to be honest, I had absolutely nothing left in me.
“Even at 5-4 [in the fifth set], normally I can rely on my serve a bit more.
“But my legs stopped pushing upward so, yeah, that’s the way it is. This is life. We move on.”
The three-time major runner-up said his biggest regrets were not winning the second set or going in for the kill in the third and fourth sets when Alcaraz “took like an hour and a half off where he wasn’t moving almost at all”.
During the third set, Alcaraz had his right leg massaged by the physio. (Reuters: Edgar Su)
“Maybe I should have used that better in a way. Maybe I should have won the games and won the sets a bit quicker,” Zverev said.
“But the fifth set, the way he was moving, was incredible again.
“Funny enough, I don’t have many regrets in the fifth set because I was hanging on for dear life, to be honest.
“But, yeah, the second set. I think going up, being one set all, and him starting to cramp in the third set, that probably would have made a difference.”
Still the best active player without a grand slam crown, the 28-year-old remains optimistic his time will come.
“Of course it’s disappointing,” Zverev said.
“But this is the start of the year so if I continue playing that way, if I continue training the way I train, if I continue working on the things that I’ve been working in the off-season, I do believe it’s going to be a good year for me.”
AAP/ABC
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