Carlos Alcaraz finally explained what happened during his wild match against Alexander Zverev at the 2026 Australian Open. And it wasn’t what most people thought.
The match started pretty normally. Alcaraz took the first two sets 6-4, 7-6, looking like he was cruising to an easy win.
Then everything changed after the second set.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz | 22 | 68,791 | 25 - 5 |
Suddenly, Alcaraz couldn’t move properly. He looked confused and called for the physio, who decided a medical timeout was needed.
Zverev was furious. He thought Alcaraz was cramping, which normally wouldn’t allow for a medical timeout under tennis rules.
The drama didn’t stop there. Zverev almost pulled off an incredible comeback, actually serving for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set. But somehow, Alcaraz found a way to fight back and reach the final.
What Really Happened?
In his press conference afterward, Alcaraz cleared things up. It wasn’t cramps at all – at least not at first.
"I didn’t think it was cramps at all at the beginning. 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."
The adductor is basically a muscle in your inner thigh that helps you move sideways. For a tennis player, that’s pretty crucial.
"After that with all the stress I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know if it was going to be worse or not. In that moment I just talked to the physio and said ‘Ok I just went to run to the forehand side and I started to feel the right adductor.’"
So the physio made the call for the medical timeout, not Alcaraz himself.
Then the Cramps Started
Here’s where it gets interesting. Alcaraz says he did start cramping – but only after the physio treated him.
"However, shortly after being treated, I think because of the nerves and stress of not knowing exactly what was wrong with me, I began to feel cramps all over my body."
It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. The stress of having a physical problem actually caused more physical problems.
"They granted me medical time because what I transmitted is that when I moved to the right, I had felt a pain in my abductor. That was true."
Zverev’s frustration was totally understandable. From the outside, it probably looked exactly like cramping to most viewers. Even the TV commentators thought that’s what was happening.
The German player talked about it more calmly after the match, but you could see why he was so upset in the moment.
An Incredible Fight
Whatever you think about the medical timeout controversy, what Alcaraz did after that was pretty extraordinary.
The guy went from barely being able to move to somehow finding the energy and focus to come back from the brink of defeat.
Zverev served for the match. He was literally one service game away from reaching his first Grand Slam final. And Alcaraz still found a way to turn it around.
Now he’ll face Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final. The 24-time Grand Slam champion had his own incredible five-set comeback against Jannik Sinner to get there.
Should be quite a show.
