Carlos Alcaraz had a lot of kind words for Alexander Zverev after defeating the German in the semifinals of the 2025 Cincinnati Open. Alcaraz's words stemmed from Zverev's physical struggles during their clash, which ultimately led to the Spaniard registering a relatively straightforward 6-4, 6-3 victory. However, several fans didn't take too kindly to the five-time Major champion's take on the German.In the aftermath of securing progress to the men's singles final of the Cincinnati Open for the second time in his career, Alcaraz lauded Zverev for being "great" both as a player and as a person. The Spaniard also admitted that the German's struggles made it difficult for him to focus on his own game."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," the former No. 1 said."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," he added. Carlos Alcaraz, the empath by u/Prize_Airline_1446 in tennis Many tennis fans on Reddit though, called out Carlos Alcaraz for his high praise of Alexander Zverev. Some of these fans brought up the German's past domestic assault allegations, which were made by two of his former partners, with one of them, Brenda Patea, even pressing charges against the ATP star that led to a public trial in a Berlin court last year."That's nice Carlos, but you're feeling sympathy for the wrong guy," one fan wrote."Such a great person, physically attacking multiple women…," added another."I don’t think the players give any f**k about the accusations 🥀🥀🥀🥀 They just assume “he’s never treated me like that” so he must not be a POS," another fan chimed in.There were others who criticized the Spaniard from a more tennis-oriented perspective, suggesting that the ATP No. 2 shouldn't allow himself to be distracted while playing by his opponent's distress."Being empathetic is a good thing, but please Carlos, not like this. Its not even the first time he got distracted because his opponent was struggling," wrote one."I hope he can be both an empath and not so easily distracted," another added."This is not a good thing. Your opponent chose to play while he’s injured, it’s not your job to feel sorry for him and drop your level!!! I hate this level of naivety!," weighed in yet another fan.Having ousted Zverev from the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, Alcaraz is now set to square off against reigning World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final."I'm ready to take the challenge" - Carlos Alcaraz on facing Jannik Sinner in Cincinnati Open finalCarlos Alcaraz at the 2025 Cincinnati Open (Source: Getty)Despite boasting an 8-5 head-to-head lead over Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz is well aware of the Italian's threat, having lost the pair's most recent encounter in the men's singles final of this year's Wimbledon Championships. Following his victory against Zverev, the Spaniard looked forward to locking horns with Sinner once more."I'm really looking forward to playing against him once again. We raise our level to the top and we bring a really beautiful tennis to the match. I'm ready to take the challenge. I'm ready to see the things that I did wrong in the last match and trying to be better on that side on Monday," Carlos Alcaraz said.Jannik Sinner is the defending Cincinnati Open champion, while Carlos Alcaraz finished second-best to Novak Djokovic the only previous time he reached the final at the prestigious Masters 1000 hardcourt tournament.