How Novak Djokovic proved us all wrong in vintage Australian Open comeback

As Novak Djokovic turned his attention to his latest showdown with Jannik Sinner, he heard something that would end up flipping this Australian Open upside down. In the post-match press conference that followed his quarter-final with Lorenzo Musetti, where Djokovic admitted he was preparing to head home before the Italian retired injured from two sets up, he bristled at the wording of a question that asked him to compare how he felt “chasing” Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the start of his career to how he feels now, with Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner dominating.

Djokovic stopped. The wording of the question, he said, was “disrespectful” in leaving out the decade in between where he had been the dominant force. Suddenly, he had that fire in his eye. “I’m going to fight until the last shot, until the last point, and do my very best to challenge them,” Djokovic said.

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Two nights later, at close to 2am in Melbourne, Djokovic rose to the challenge as he produced a vintage performance, and one of the wins of his career, in dethroning the Australian Open champion Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in four hours and nine minutes. Djokovic had lost five matches in a row to Sinner and, in falling two sets down to the No 2 seed’s compatriot Musetti on Wednesday, had appeared so far away from the force that would be required to overturn what were possibly the longest pre-match odds he had ever faced. Djokovic, though, was not waving the white flag.

“There’s a lot of people that doubt me,” he later said. “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. You know, 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.”

In becoming the oldest Australian Open finalist of all time, at 38, Djokovic will bid for the standalone record of 25 grand slam singles titles on Sunday against the world No 1 Alcaraz, 18 months on from his previous grand slam final where he lost in straight sets to the Spaniard at Wimbledon. Last season, in exiting all four grand slams at the semi-final stage, you could question why Djokovic was persisting with his quest for a 25th. After he was demolished by Alcaraz at the US Open in September, he conceded that Alcaraz and Sinner were “too good” and that beating them over best-of-five would be “very, very difficult”.

Crucially, though, “not impossible”.

“I said that they were playing on a different level, so I just had to find that level,” Djokovic remarked on court. In ending the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly of grand slam finals, stopping their run of consecutive finals at three, Djokovic was lost for words as members of his team wept in the coaching box. When Djokovic was asked about being in a position to challenge for the grand slam titles record, he replied: “Honestly, it feels like I’m winning already tonight.”

For the Serbian, the performance he found, at this stage of the tournament, felt enough. He had been handed a fortunate break when his fourth-round opponent Jakub Mensik withdrew due to injury last week, giving Djokovic a walkover. He was then “extremely lucky” when Musetti suddenly retired from two sets up in their quarter-final, struck down by a leg injury. It was an undeniable boost. As he explained almost six months ago in New York, to have a chance against the best in the world, Djokovic needed to be fresh and be prepared to go the distance.

He got there from two sets to one down, and as Sinner closed in on a 20th consecutive victory at the tournament. Earlier in the third set, Djokovic was panting heavily between points, at one stage covering his face with his towel. Yet Djokovic never let Sinner out of his sight. His serving was as accurate and pinpoint as it had been for years. His forehand speed was massively increased, reminiscent of his run from three years ago when he lifted his 10th Australian Open title. Key to the victory was Djokovic’s defiance on break points, saving 16 of the 18 he faced. “He won the last five matches against me. He had my number, so I had to change my number for tonight,” Djokovic said. He went bigger than ever before.

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And now, in Sunday’s final, awaits an opponent who is also on the cusp of history after his own epic. In an all-time men’s semi-final day at Melbourne Park, Alcaraz advanced to his first final by defeating third seed Alexander Zverev in five hours and 27 minutes, the third-longest match in the tournament’s history. The Spaniard will be aiming to achieve the career grand slam against Djokovic, with the chance to become the youngest man of all time to complete the set. Yet the youngster, at 22, will need to recover from his own marathon after struggling physically before his fightback.

Alcaraz has won both of their grand slam finals at Wimbledon. Yet, in the 2024 Olympics final, Djokovic summoned an outstanding effort against Alcaraz to win his elusive gold in Paris. Turns out, that wasn’t his last stand after all. “I have to come back in a couple of days and fight the number one in the world,” said Djokovic, who has never lost an Australian Open final in 10 previous appearances. “I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to go toe to toe with him. That’s my desire, and then let the gods decide the winner.”