At 1.33am on Saturday morning in Melbourne, four hours and nine minutes after his night shift had begun, Novak Djokovic collapsed to the floor with his arms aloft and stared up to the skies in utter disbelief. While Djokovic would normally reserve his most exuberant celebrations for triumphant finals, in truth this result was an even greater achievement than some of his victories in majors.
The Serb is 38, an age at which most players are long finished, yet somehow he is still competing for the biggest titles. On Rod Laver Arena, the most important stage of his career, he pulled off perhaps his greatest upset, recovering from two sets to one down to topple Jannik Sinner, the two-time defending champion and second seed, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to return to the final of the Australian Open. No player in the open era has come close to achieving Djokovic’s longevity. Merely being one of the best in the world at his age is an unprecedented achievement, yet here he outplayed and outlasted one of the two dominant men in the sport, breaking a five-match losing streak against Sinner.
Djokovic, the fourth seed, was tearful in the immediate aftermath: “I’m lost for words right now, to be honest. Oh my God, where should I [start]? It feels surreal, to be honest. Playing over four hours, almost 2am. Reminiscing on 2012, when I played Rafa in the final. That was six hours, almost.
“The level of intensity and the quality of tennis was extremely high and I knew that was the only way for me tonight to have a chance against him. He won the last five matches against me. He had my mobile number, so I had to change my number for tonight. Jokes aside, I told him at the net: ‘Thanks for allowing me at least one.’”
As Djokovic chases a record 25th grand slam singles title – he already has two more than any other male player – he has become the oldest man in the open era to reach this final. He has reached his 11th Melbourne final, a men’s record, and 38th grand slam final, the most overall.
He will rekindle his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz, after the world No 1 engineered his own astounding five-set win over Alexander Zverev. The match will pit the greatest veteran in the history of the sport against possibly the greatest youngster. While Djokovic is aiming to become the oldest men’s grand slam champion, the 22-year-old Alcaraz will try to become the youngest man to achieve the career grand slam.
“I saw Carlos after his match and he told me: ‘I’m sorry to delay the start of your match,’” he said. “I told him: ‘I’m an old man, I need to go earlier to sleep.’ So I’m looking forward to seeing him in a few days’ time.”
Perhaps the only thing more impressive than this achievement was how Djokovic actually pulled it off. Across their four hours on court, Djokovic watched 72 winners fly past him compared to just 42 unforced errors from Sinner, with the Italian serving 26 aces, the most in his career.
This was a match of the highest quality, played at an intensity that Djokovic struggled to handle. However, even against the most devastating ball-striker on the ATP tour, he refused to be bullied. Djokovic held his ground on top of the baseline for the duration, eviscerating his forehand as he took the ball early, redirecting the ball spectacularly off both wings and maintaining his fearless aggression in the most important moments. He served with immense precision under pressure and moved supremely well.
Djokovic faced 18 break points in all, saving 16 of them. In the final set, he somehow survived two perilous service games early on, holding off all eight break points generated by Sinner with stupendous serving and relentless attack. “Honestly, it feels like winning [the title] tonight already,” he said.
Coming into this match, Djokovic had provided even his most loyal fans with ample reason to doubt him. On Wednesday, Djokovic was completely outplayed by Lorenzo Musetti, the fifth seed, before the Italian was forced to retire while leading by two sets. This was preceded by a withdrawal from the 16th seed, Jakub Mensik, in round four, meaning Djokovic had not won a set since the third round.
This strange series of events came with a silver lining. In each of his four grand slam semi-finals last year, the physical demands were too much for his ageing body. By the time he reached the latter rounds, he was in no shape to compete with the best. Djokovic has never doubted his level, but he had serious concerns about his physicality at 38.
Finally, he was able to face Sinner with fresh legs and he refused to let the opportunity pass him by, ticking off another historic achievement in an unparalleled career filled with them.
