Late in the third set of the duel between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, an incident occurred that could completely turn this Australian Open semifinal around.
The Spaniard was leading 2–0 in sets and had a 5–4 advantage in the third when he felt pain and requested a medical time-out.
Zverev then lashed out at the chair umpire of the match, Serbian official Marijana Veljović, criticizing her for not starting the clock to measure the allowed break.
“Why didn’t you start the clock? It’s cramps, why isn’t the time running?” Sasha shouted at Marijana, as she tried to defend her decision:
“I can’t know whether it’s cramps or an injury.”
Alexander Zverev: “This is bullshit. Carlos Alcaraz can’t take an MTO for cramps. He’s not injured.”pic.twitter.com/D3vPc2PtZg
— Danny (@DjokovicFan_) January 30, 2026
The German then offered his own “explanation” for her ruling.
“You are protecting these two all the time,” he said, referring to Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz then spoke with Veljović and explained what was bothering him, while Zverev went to his box and said:
“This is bullshit! This is fucking bullshit!”
He then repeated “cramps, cramps” in German, remaining loud and continuously criticizing both the Serbian umpire and the match supervisor over the break and the entire situation.
Still, he managed to use the episode to his advantage later on, forcing a tie-break and keeping his hopes alive.
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Source:B92; Foto: AFP