The French Open 2024 final had its ups and downs but there was one particular moment in the match which made a usually smiling and happy-go-lucky Carlos Alcaraz furious. The Spaniard was frustrated after losing 4 games in a row to Alexander Zverev in the third set of the Alcaraz vs Zverev match. And the chair umpire had to bear the brunt of Alcaraz’s outburst.
As the German went up 6-5 in the third set in the Alcaraz vs Zverev match, Carlos Alcaraz went up to the umpire and complained in English about the fact that the side he was playing on felt like a hard surface, while Zverev’s side had a lot more clay on it. Alcaraz called this ‘unbelievable’ and that made the umpire instruct the staff after the set to clean up the surface and add more clay on it.
Co-incidentally, the 2023 French Open champion, Novak Djokovic had the same complaint during his match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo. This was highlighted by a social media influencer on X.
Alcaraz told umpire that there is not enough clay on court.
“This is unbelievable!”
Similar to what Djokovic said to the supervisor in that match vs. Cerundolo.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 9, 2024
Many tennis fans agreed that Carlos Alcaraz was on the wrong as Alexander Zverev also played on the same side in many games of the match, so it was lack of sportsmanship from the Spaniard. Others also felt that Alcaraz was favored by the organisers as authorities acted on his complaint, but when Djokovic did the same thing, his plea was not considered.
Zverev is playing on the same court
— CardFetish (@visokfn) June 9, 2024
What bothers me more they only observe when they are down on scores….
— Loli (@LoliLondon) June 9, 2024
— Draft Barbie (@DraftBarbie) June 9, 2024
Yeah but Alcaraz will get a pass while everyone cried Djokovic was making excuses.
— Nick | WTA (@KoreanInAKayak) June 9, 2024
After a brief halt during his complaint, the game resumed. The anger seemed to have worked in Carlos Alcaraz’s favor later on, as he fought back to win the final two sets, 6-1, 6-2 to win the French Open 2024 title. However, that incident has made the French Open organisers come under the scanner again when it comes to the handling of the courts.
Novak Djokovic Was Not as Lucky as Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic had one of the all-time great comebacks to win his fourth-round match against Francisco Cerundolo. From being two sets down at 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, he won the last two sets 7-5, 6-3 to win the match. This was on the back of his other stellar 5-set win against Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.
However, the tough win against Cerundolo cost Djokovic, as he suffered a knee injury. The now former World No.1 blamed it upon the below-average conditions on his side of the court. He slipped time and again during his match and one of those nasty falls caused the injury.
An irritated Djokovic complained about this to the tournament supervisor Wayne McKewan,
“Why is it such a big issue to sweep the court every second changeover? Who is playing tennis? Explain it to me. I screwed up my knee because I made a quick move. I’m sliding and slipping all the time.”
“The only thing I’m asking is every second changeover, you sweep the court. That’s all. What is the problem with the groundspeople doing it every second changeover? For them,” as Tennis Majors reported.
Djokovic was aware that everyone slides on clay, but the number of times he slid and fell was not normal. He accused the organisers of not paying heed to his pleas. So many believe, in their own right, that the Serb was let down by the tournament’s organisers and authorities while Alcaraz was not.
Djokovic won that match, but at a heavy cost. He had to forfeit from playing the quarter-final, giving his opponent Casper Ruud a walkover in the semi-finals. Ruud eventually lost his semi-final to Alexander Zverev.
