Novak Djokovic makes sporting gesture to Carlos Alcaraz minutes before taking on Jannik Sinner

Novak Djokovic took time out from his pre-match preparation on Friday to congratulate Carlos Alcaraz in person, after the Spaniard reached the Australian Open final.

Despite blowing a two-set lead, Alcaraz ultimately battled past Alex Zverev in a five-set thriller that lasted five hours and 27 minutes. That result saw the Spaniard, 22, reach his first Australian Open final as he bids to become the youngest man ever to win the career grand slam.

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But standing in his way on Sunday will be the most-successful men’s singles player in Australian Open history: 10-time champion Djokovic.

And as Djokovic awaited his semi-final with Jannik Sinner on Friday, the Serb took a moment to speak to Alcaraz backstage.

While Alcaraz cooled down on a cycling machine, cameras captured Djokovic walking over to shake the Spaniard’s hand and those of his teammates.

Although Djokovic’s words were inaudible, he was seen patting Alcaraz on the back and bringing the younger player to laughter while walking away.

Minutes later, the 38-year-old Djokovic took to Rod Laver arena to play Sinner, who was seeking a third consecutive – and third overall – title in Melbourne. However, the Italian was thwarted by Djokovic, who beat the 24-year-old in a scintillating match – 3-6 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-4.

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Djokovic is pursuing a 25th grand slam title overall, to make him the outright most-successful major champion in men’s and women’s tennis. Although he faces a tough task against Alcaraz, he will trust in his experience at the Australian Open, where he has never lost a final.

His semi-final win in some ways resembled the evening’s earlier epic between Alcaraz and Zverev. Across four hours and 10 minutes, Djokovic twice fought from a set down to force a deciding frame, which he narrowly won.

Beforehand, Alcaraz’s match with Zverev was not without controversy, as the German angrily complained about the world No 1 receiving a medical timeout.

Alcaraz received treatment late in the third set, when he was still on course for a straight-sets win, having struggled with his movement in the preceding few games. The trainer came on and worked on massaging Alcaraz’s upper legs, before umpire Marijana Veljovic announced a three-minute medical timeout.

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Zverev was furious with the decision; under the rules, players are not allowed medical timeouts due to muscle cramping issues, which Zverev believed were the cause of Alcaraz’s treatment.

Zverev voiced his anger in German to supervisor Andreas Egli, muttering: “He has cramp! He can’t take a medical, he is cramping. What else should it be? This is absolute bull****! This is unbelievable.

“You are protecting both of them [Alcaraz and Sinner], this is unbelievable. Unbelievable. This is not possible, this is not possible. You cannot be serious.”