French Open: Fans boo as Carlos Alcaraz forced to forfeit game after attack of cramp against Novak Djokovic

The fans at the French Open were less than impressed when Carlos Alcaraz was forced to forfeit a key service game after what appeared to be an attack of cramp against Novak Djokovic in their huge semi-final on Friday afternoon.

As he blasted a forehand into the net to give Djokovic a service hold to draw level at 1-1 in the third set, the world No. 1 and top seed suddenly suffered a big problem with some serious pain in his right leg.

It seemed to be a nasty case of cramp as the Spaniard was forced to take a medical time-out, and because it was not a changeover, he therefore had to forfeit what would have been his subsequent service game.

As the umpire explained the rules to the fans, there were loud boos from around Court Philippe-Chatrier as the disappointing situation dawned on the fans and they perhaps felt sympathy for the Spaniard.

“He’s allowed treatment in the changeover, and he’s allowed it for one more after that,” explained Miles Maclagan, on commentary for Eurosport at the time.

“He’s forfeiting the points of the rest of the game so he can get treatment at the changeover. You can’t take a medical time-out [when it’s not a changeover].

“It looks like he’s just trying to stretch his calf out. You can’t take a medical time-out.”

Simon Reed added: “It does seem harsh [Djokovic being awarded a break], but that’s how they regard the cramp. He’s in a bad way! What a time for this to happen.

“The clock is running [for the time-out]. As if we hadn’t had enough drama in this match.

“Have you ever seen Alcaraz suffer [like this before]? We’ve seen an awful lot of Carlos over the last year or so, and never seen this.”

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