ATP
Injured Djokovic stuns Alcaraz in quest for 11th Australian title
37 year old Novak Djokovic turned back his body clock with a masterful display in his tournament defining career by coming back from a set down to defeat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a quarter final encounter.
The Serb, with 24 Grand slam titles to his name, 10 of them at the Australian Open, has now reached a remarkable career 50 Grand Slam semi-finals.
He also became only the third male in the Open era to reach multiple grand slam semi finals at the age of 37, Ken Rosewall and Roger Federer being the others to do so.
No.7 seed Djokovic’s performance put paid for now, to doubters of his ability to add to his 24 major titles, and an 11th in Melbourne, with a tenacious three-hour, 37-minute display against Alcaraz, finishing deep into the night.
This despite pulling up painfully at the end of a long rally at 4-4 on Djokovic’s serve in the first set.
Djokovic limped through the rest of the game, losing his serve before taking an off-court medical timeout.
When he returned to court Alcaraz served out to win the set.
Down and out – Alcaraz is floored as he tries to return a Djokovic winner
With his left thigh heavily strapped Djokovic spent much of the second set hobbling between points appearing to be in genuine pain and in danger of losing in straight sets.
Instead, he responded with a masterful performance offering yet another reminder of his greatness by rallying from a set down to defeat Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 sealing victory with his first match point.
Djokovic roared in delight before embracing his beaten opponent at the net.
After the match the Serb told Jim Courier on court “I want to say my utmost respect and admiration for Carlos, everything he stands for and what he has achieved so far in his career,”
What a terrific guy he is, and an even better competitor. Youngest ever No. 1 in the world, four Grand Slams, and I’m sure we are going to see a lot of him… Maybe not as much as I would like, but he is going to be there for sure longer than me.
I just wish this match today was the final, honestly.
It’s one of the most epic matches I have played on this court, on any court really.”
Djokovic now leads Alcaraz 5-3 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
He will next face 3rd seed, Alexander Zverev, who defeated the 12th seeded American Tommy Paul, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-1.