“I would have felt sorry about myself” – Carlos Alcaraz explains why he continued playing despite painful cramps in French Open semifinal
Carlos Alcaraz explained why he didn’t retire from the 2023 French Open semifinal on Friday, even though he was dealing with severe cramps.
Alcaraz lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 French Open semifinal, 3-6, 7-5, 1-6, 1-6, failing to reach his first-ever Roland Garros final. The competitiveness of the match was stained by the Spaniard’s cramps early in the third set. This caused him to be unable to give a 100% in the third and fourth sets.
Although it was clear that the 20-year-old was miles from his best, he didn’t want to retire from the match. In the post-match press conference, he explained why.
“Well, I would have felt sorry about myself if I would retire, you know. I’m in a semifinal of a Grand Slam. If I retired from that, it could have been really tough for me,” Alcaraz said.
The Spaniard revealed he thought that he had a “1% chance” to make a comeback, but he still stayed on the court.
“Of course in the third set, no, but thinking about the fourth set, I thought that probably I have 1% chance, you know, to come back. It was really tough,” Carlos Alcaraz explained.
“But, you know, in the fourth set I had breakpoints in the first game (smiling). But, you know, after that, I just continue playing, you know. In my mind, in the fourth set, it was not the retirement,” he added.
