The old master wants to know it again: Novak Djokovic celebrated a spectacular victory against Jannik Sinner and followed Carlos Alcaraz into the final of the Australian Open. The Serbian Grand Slam record winner, 38, surprisingly beat the Italian defending champion in a dramatic semi-final 3:6, 6:3, 4:6, 6:4, 6:4.
Djokovic converted his third match point at 1:31 a.m. local time after more than four hours and decided the game – also because Sinner had previously missed too many break chances. He is only one step away from celebrating his longed-for 25th major title after years of waiting and becoming the sole record holder across all genders.
Djokovic is now the oldest finalist in Melbourne in the Open Era and could achieve his eleventh tournament victory Down Under. Sinner, on the other hand, missed his third consecutive final in Melbourne and the chance to win Grand Slam title number five.
Djokovic has a positive record against Alcaraz
The Serb had lost all of the last five duels with Sinner – three of them in Grand Slam semi-finals – and only won two sets. But after a confident start by the world number two from South Tyrol, Djokovic showed that he has not yet given up his dogged hunt for further major titles. He got the audience on his side in the second set and met the Italian at eye level.
Djokovic also managed to take Sinner’s serve in the fourth set. The 38-year-old, who had been able to save a lot of energy over the course of the tournament, sometimes played as well as he did in his younger years. Djokovic had advanced without a fight in the round of 16 and had benefited from the injury-related retirement of Lorenzo Musetti from Italy in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic has a positive record of 5:4 in direct duels against Alcaraz. The last time so far, in the semi-finals of the US Open, the Spaniard had the upper hand. Alcaraz had also defeated world number three Alexander Zverev in a spectacular five-set thriller in the first semi-final in Melbourne.
