Australian Open live: Djokovic stuns Sinner in another five-set epic to book Alcaraz final

Carlos Alcaraz said he did not know if he was cramping or had suffered a more specific injury when a medical timeout was called during the third set of his Australian Open win over Alexander Zverev.

Alcaraz’s stunning five-set epic to reach his first Australian Open final did not come without controversy as the German fumed at the decision to allow his opponent a three-minute medical timeout at 5-4 in the third when he was struggling with his movement.

“He has cramp! He can't take a medical, he is cramping. What else should it be? This is absolute bull****! This is unbelievable,” Zverev said in German to supervisor Andreas Egli. Players are not allowed medical timeouts due to muscle cramping issues.

Aryna Sabalenka bids to regain her Australian Open crown as she faces Elena Rybakina in a big-hitting rematch of their dramatic final from three years ago.

The world No 1 was stunned by Madison Keys in last year’s final but is looking to win her third title in four years after reaching another final in Melbourne, having beaten Rybakina to win her first in 2023.

Both have been in dominant form this tournament, and Sabalenka and Rybakina are the first players to advance to a grand slam women’s final without dropping a set since Serena and Venus Williams in 2008.

Fifth seed Rybakina moved into her first grand slam final in three years by continuing her winning streak against top-10 players with wins against Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula.

Rybakina may have lost to Sabalenka three years ago, but the 2022 Wimbledon winner claimed a statement win over the world No 1 at the WTA Finals at the end of last season.

Sabalenka will be bidding for her fifth grand slam title overall after continuing her excellent consistency with a seventh hard-court grand slam final in a row.

One way or another, history will be made in the Australian Open final on Sunday as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz meet with two career-defining achievements on the line.

After one of the most dramatic semi-final days the tournament has seen, Djokovic returned to his 11th Australian Open final by stunning the defending champion Jannik Sinner in five sets to move one one away from the standalone record of 25 grand slam singles titles. Djokovic, at 38, is also bidding to become the oldest Australian Open champion of all time.

At the other end of the scale, world No 1 Alcaraz can become the youngest man of all time to complete the career grand slam, at the age of 22, after reaching his first Australian Open final. The Spaniard triumphed in five hours and 27 minutes to beat Alexander Zverev in five sets on Friday, in the longest semi-final in the tournament’s history.

Djokovic seemingly hit back at his critics on Friday, with a subtle message in the aftermath of his Australian Open win against Sinner.

In the moments after his win against Sinner, Djokovic wrote on a camera lens on Rod Laver arena – a customary move for most players at most tournaments. However, while most players sign their names, Djokovic took the opportunity to send a message.

“Nesto ste rekli?” he wrote in Serbian, which translates to: “Did you say something?”

The message has been interpreted as a response to his Djokovic’s critics, whom he later addressed during a post-match press conference.

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As Djokovic awaited his semi-final with Sinner today, 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.

There will be little time for laughing and joking on court on Sunday!

Speaking of stats, this one was absolutely vital in Djokovic’s victory today:

The 38-year-old saved 16 out of the 18 break points that he faced.

That is a truly stunning show of resilience.

He will surely face similar adversity against Alcaraz. Can he be so defiant on Sunday?

Djokovic: “I never stopped believing in myself, you know. There’s a lot of people that doubt me. I see there is a lot of experts all of a sudden that wanted to retire me – or have retired me many times the last couple of years.

“I want to thank them all, because they gave me strength. They gave me motivation to prove them wrong, which I have tonight.

“For me, it’s not a surprise, to be honest. I know what I’m capable of. So, I’ve had many, many times in my career matches during a grand slam where it’s just one of those days where you’re not feeling your best.

“You try to find a way to win with everything that you possibly have, even though the quality of tennis is not even close to where you want it to be. So that was the case, you know? Again, I was lucky that obviously Lorenzo got hurt and retired that match.

“Two days later, obviously different opponent. I knew exactly what’s expected of me on the court, and I came out with the right, great clarity and strategy and gameplan and what needs to be executed.

“Obviously easier said than done. You know, one thing is to imagine how you want to play, and the other thing is to deliver it and execute it on the court against Sinner, [who] we all know is playing an extremely high level.

“I mean, I’m just thrilled to be able to experience something like this tonight.”

Djokovic: “I don’t know. Let’s see. You know, it’s almost 3am... Yeah, let’s see.

“I cannot make any predictions right now. Definitely not going to train tomorrow, just going to use every hour I possibly can to recover.

“Hopefully get out on the finals day feeling somewhat refreshed.”

Djokovic tells the press: “For me, I think also obviously for Carlos because of his age and everything that he was able to achieve so far, history is on the line for both of us every time we play.

“The finals of grand slams, you know, there’s a lot at stake, but it’s no different from any other big match that I play. My preparation is as it should be, and I won against him last year here, you know, also in a gruelling match [in the quarter-finals].

“Let’s see how fresh are we both able to be. He also had a big match, but he has 15, 16 years on me. You know, biologically I think it’s going to be a bit easier for him to recover! But, yeah, I look forward to it.

“Look, I play tennis competitively mainly to be able to reach the finals of grand slams. Here I am, so I cannot complain about anything. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment that I’m experiencing tonight.

“I’ll think about finals later, but for me, this is a win that almost equals winning a grand slam.”

Djokovic tells the press: “To be honest, I wouldn’t dare to call it ‘ever’, ‘finest ever’, but definitely the finest in the last couple of years.

“Under the circumstances and semis, against Sinner who has been playing the best tennis of his life in the last couple of years – particularly here, two-time defending champion – it doesn’t get better than this.

“Honestly, when I started my preparations for the new season and kind of set the goals, it’s no secret that grand slams are where I want to play my best tennis, but it becomes... I guess, more difficult for me to motivate myself.

“I ask myself questions. ‘Ok, what is it that I’m looking for from myself?’ I was imagining really playing against Jannik and Carlos at the final stages of grand slams this year and battling it out and really giving it all that I have.

“So, very fortunate to already get it in the first slam of the year! Yeah, big win, very proud, very happy, very relieved, as well – because it was physically very demanding and gruelling.”