Carlos Alcaraz succumbs to stress in French Open semifinal

PARIS: Carlos Alcaraz succumbed to the stress of playing the 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.


"The second set was really, really intense I started to cramp in my arm," the 20-year-old said of the Roland Garros semifinal. "At the beginning of the third set I started to cramp every part of my body, not only the legs. The arms, as well every part of the legs."

Alcaraz played three five-set matches en route to the title at the US Open last year, but he wasn't up against a player named Djokovic. "Is not easy to play against Novak, a legend of our sport. If someone says that he get into the court with no nerves playing against Novak, he lies," the world No. 1 said.


"Of course playing a semifinal of a Grand Slam, you have a lot of nerves, but even more facing Novak. The next time I'm gonna face Novak, I hope to be different, but the nerves will be there."

That's the tightest the Spaniard has been in a match. "I started the match really nervous. The tension of the first and second set, it was really intense two sets," he said.

"Really good rallies, tough rallies, dropshots, sprints, rallies. It's a combination of a lot of things. The main thing, it was the tension that I had all the two first sets."