Posted: 1:49pm 31/01/2026
(Melbourne, 31st Comprehensive News) The 2026 Australian Tennis Open will stage the men’s singles final tomorrow. The No. 4 seed and 10-time Australian Open champion Jokowi will face off against the No. 1 seed and world No. 1 “Aka” Alcaraz. Whoever wins in the end will set each other’s historical records!
In the semi-finals, Jokowi fell behind twice to tie the match, and broke serve in the decisive set to defeat defending champion Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. He ended his 5-game losing streak against Sinner, reached the Australian Open final for the 11th time, and advanced to the Grand Slam final for the 38th time. He shattered the much-anticipated “Sinka showdown” and the match lasted 4 hours and 9 minutes.
Sinner’s 19-game winning streak at the Australian Open was ended, and he missed the opportunity to advance to the Australian Open finals for three consecutive years, and missed the opportunity to compete with Aka in four consecutive Grand Slams!
In the other semi-final, Aka spent 5 hours and 27 minutes fighting hard in 5 sets. Overcoming vomiting, cramps and physical limitations, he defeated German No. 3 seed Zvolev 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 and reached the Australian Open final for the first time.
In the third set of the match, Aka applied for a medical timeout, which aroused Zvolev’s dissatisfaction. He believed that Aka had cramps and could not apply for a medical timeout.
Aka is more favored
Tomorrow’s final will be the 10th time Joko and Aka have met, and the third time the two have faced off in a Grand Slam final. In the first 9 encounters, Joko had a slight advantage with 5 wins and 4 losses. The most recent encounter was in the US Open semifinals last year. Aka won 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
The two previous encounters between the two in Grand Slam finals were in the Wimbledon finals, with Aka winning the match. In this final, Aka, who is 16 years younger than Joko, seems to be more optimistic. However, Joko has never lost in his previous 10 Australian Open finals and maintains a 100% winning rate.
If the 38-year-old Joko wins the championship, he will achieve his 25th Grand Slam championship and become the first player in the history of the Australian Open to win 11 times. Joko is currently tied for the first place in history with 24 Grand Slam titles with Australian women’s singles star Margaret Court, who was also watching the match that day.
If Aka wins, he will achieve a Grand Slam and become the youngest Grand Slam player in history at the age of 22.
The key to Jokowi’s ability to defeat Sinner at a disadvantage was to save all 8 break points in the final set. He was once trailing 0-40 and won 5 points in a row. Although Sinner dominated the match with 26 to 12 aces and 152 to 140 total points, Jokowi’s conversion rate at break points was 3/8, beating Sinner’s 2/18. Better control of key points became the winning factor.
Joko becomes the oldest Australian Open men’s singles finalist
At 38 years and 255 days old, Joko became the oldest Australian Open men’s singles finalist in the Open era. His 104 Australian Open wins surpassed Federer’s 102 wins and ranked first in history.
After defeating Sinner, Joko knelt down on the court excitedly. “To be honest, it feels unreal. The intensity of this match was very high and reminded me of the 2012 Australian Open final against Nadal. For me, winning is almost equivalent to winning a Grand Slam.”
“I know that many people have doubted me in the past few years, and many ‘experts’ want me to retire. But I have always believed in myself. I want to thank the ‘experts’ for giving me strength and motivation to prove them wrong,” Joko said.
