Spanish Tennis star Carlos Alcaraz expressed a heartwarming gesture for Alexander Zverev, who was struggling with an ailment and ended up losing the Cincinnati Open 2025 semi-final. Following the victory, Alcaraz wrote on camera for Zverev, "Happy for the final but feeling bad for Sascha. Wish you all the best."
Alcaraz, who had progressed to the semi-final after defeating Rublev in the quarter-final, edged past Zverev 6-4, 6-3. Zverev had notably received treatment during the quarter-final victory over Ben Shelton, left the court to receive medical attention at 2-1 in the second. Although the German returned, he was far from best for the rest of the match.
Watch the below heartfelt gesture from Alcaraz:
"It's never easy playing against someone that you know is not feeling 100 per cent" - Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz revealed that they enjoyed some good rallies at the start but felt bad for Zverev after his health started getting worse. The 22-year-old wished him best and said after the match, as quoted by ATPTour.com:
"It's never easy playing against someone that you know is not feeling 100 per cent. It's even tougher when it comes from Sascha, such a great player, such a great person off the court. We have a really good relationship. We started the match really good, playing good rallies, a good level of tennis. But then all of a sudden he started to feel bad. And then my focus, I was thinking about how he's feeling, besides focusing on myself and playing good tennis. It was a really difficult situation for me and I just wish him all the best."
In the process, Alcaraz has set up a final with Jannik Sinner. The two had locked horns in the French Open and Wimbledon final, sharing the spoils.
