Carlos Alcaraz looked all set for a titanic battle with Novak Djokovic and while he won the first set and played to the end, cramp wreaked havoc at Roland Garros.
This saw him denied a medical time out due to new rules and have to take a game penalty.
As a result, he lost out to Djokovic and his French Open dream is over as the Serbian romped into a final with Casper Ruud.
Speaking post match, he said he'd never felt anything like it but that he vows to learn from it.
"I started to cramp in my arm. At the beginning of the third set I started to cramp every part of my body, not only the legs," said Alcaraz who went down 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to the Serbian.
"It was really tough for me to move in the third set, and in the fourth let's say I had a little chance, but it was really tough, my full body start to cramp."
He said that against Stefanos Tsitsipas back in 2021 he had similar but nothing on that scale.
"I have never felt something like I did today. I have never felt that tension that I did in that match," he added.
"I started the match really nervous. Really good rallies, tough rallies, drop shots, sprints, rallies. It's a combination of a lot of things. But the main thing, it was the tension that I had all the two first sets.
"Against Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021 in the US Open, I got cramps, but not this magnitude. I learned from that match, from that experience, and I will do the same in this match."
Alcaraz in press. “It’s been tough. I disappointed myself. Came into this match feeling great physically and this happened.” Says arms started cramping in the end of the 2nd set and then full body in the 3rd. Thinks it was “the tension of a big match.”
