The highly anticipated French Open semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz was disrupted by the 20-year-old cramping in the early stages of the third set, derailing his hopes.
When the draw was made, fans were immediately drawn to the possibility of Alcaraz and Djokovic meeting in the semifinal, a blockbuster matchup between the best of two different generations.
The match lived up to expectations in the opening two sets. Djokovic, considered a slight underdog by many despite his incredible accomplishments, responded with sublime tennis to take the opening set 6-3.
Both men were superb in what was arguably the best set of tennis seen so far in 2024 during the second. Alcaraz won it 7-5, and the match was set up to be a classic at that point.
Unfortunately, Alcaraz began cramping in the third set. The extent of the problem became apparent after the second game of the set when the Spaniard limped back to his chair after missing a return.
As seen in the video below, Alcaraz was experiencing significant discomfort. Djokovic sportingly went to see if the US Open champion was okay, patting him on the back as he walked gingerly to his chair.
The rule in tennis is players cannot receive a medical timeout for cramps. Since the match was not at a sit-down either after two games, Alcaraz was forced to forfeit a game to have treatment for the problem.
That decision proved how much pain the 20-year-old was in. Losing one game was worth it to see if any work could be done to relieve him of the agony from his cramps.
It made no difference, though. Alcaraz was hampered for the rest of the match and could not compete at the same level as the previous two sets. Djokovic ruthlessly took advantage to triumph 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.