A five-set battle that stretched for 5 hours and 27 minutes, the longest match of the tournament so far and the third-longest ever at Melbourne Park, was never going to be easy. Still, Carlos Alcaraz found a way through, edging Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 to book his place in the final, even while dealing with an ugly cramp in the third set.

Zverev, meanwhile, clearly wasn’t thrilled with how the night unfolded and was seen muttering something in German out of frustration as Alcaraz took an MTO.

Later, during his post-match press conference, Zverev was asked what he had said in that moment. He quickly shut the question down, saying, “I don’t remember, to be honest. It was 17 hours ago and I don’t quite remember.”

“I’m sure somebody has it on video, and you can check. But honestly, I don’t want to talk about this right now because I think this was one of the best battles there ever was in Australia, and it doesn’t deserve to be the topic now,” he then added. Frustrated? Absolutely, and after a match like that, it’s hard to blame him.

After taking the first two sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), Alcaraz suddenly looked uncomfortable early in the third. With the set locked at 4-4, he pulled up awkwardly on serve, and play was briefly stopped at 15-all as the world No. 1 appeared to be struggling with his upper right leg and groin.

That pause quickly shifted the spotlight to chair umpire Marijana Veljovic, much to Alexander Zverev’s frustration. The German was visibly upset that the countdown clock wasn’t started while Alcaraz was on serve, and he didn’t hold back. “It’s unbelievable that he gets treated for cramps, it’s BS,” Zverev said angrily.

“You are protecting these two guys all the time,” the 28-year-old added, pointing toward Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as he vented his anger over the situation.

Players are generally not allowed to call a Medical Time Out for cramp, with quick fixes like pickle juice usually used instead. That’s why former American player Jim Courier also sympathized with Zverev on Nine’s broadcast, agreeing on air that a clear mistake had been made.

This is a developing story…