Many fans will remember this as the greatest semi-finals day in tennis history.
Novak Djokovic, at age 38, won the day by beating two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in five sets to reach his first grand slam final since losing to Alcaraz at Wimbledon in July 2024.
Djokovic was surely inspired by Carlos Alcaraz’s incredibly gutsy five-set win over a valiant Alexander Zverev, who later said he didn’t have the legs to serve out the match at 5-4 after more than five hours of battle.
Both semi-final matches deserve their places in tennis history.
But Djokovic won the fans on the day.
Alcaraz, who is already one of the most exciting and amiable players in tennis history, perhaps lost some cred after Zverev accused him during the match of seeking a medical time-out for treatment of what appeared to be cramps near the end of the third set.
Zverev, a lifelong diabetic inspiring millions of patients around the world, could not fulfill his quest to win his first grand slam title.
Sinner, an incredible ball striker tainted by the handling of his failed doping tests, couldn’t beat Djokovic in cool, late-night conditions on his favorite surface. He was also moments away from exiting the tournament after cramping in the third set against Eliot Spizzirri last week before organizers, citing the tournament heat rule, decided to close the roof midway through a set.
But Djokovic, who owns almost every record in men’s tennis, rose above everyone on the day.
Sinner was the overwhelming betting favorite. Djokovic had benefitted from a withdrawal by Jacob Mensik and the quarterfinal retirement of Alejandro Musetti, who had red-lined his game to trounce Djokovic in the first two sets.
Sinner won the opening three games and appeared ready to wallop Novak again. But Djokovic found the extra gear to take him to a level beyond any other player. Perhaps he felt disrespected by a journalist asking him about “chasing” Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, and now “chasing” Alcaraz and Sinner. Simon Cambers, a veteran announcer on AO radio and writer for the Guardian, Tennis Majors and other outlets, clearly didn’t mean to insult Djokovic. But Novak immediately fought back and reminded him — and the whole tennis world — that he dominated tennis for years to accumulate the most grand slam titles in history.
Novak played like the King of Tennis in the fourth and fifth sets against Sinner. Djokovic unleashed at least four massive forehands down the line on the biggest points late in the match while Sinner waited for Novak to unleash the same crosscourt lazers that stunned Alcaraz in the Paris Olympic final.
At least four times, Djokovic exploited the same spot (between mid-baseline and the left wing tramline) to induce errors from Sinner on the biggest points. That play shows the brilliance of Djokovic in a nutshell. He safely hits the ball into play, shrinks the court, removes the angles, and puts his exhausted opponent into a confused state of two minds where they can either hit an off-balance runaround forehand, or a backhand straight back to Djokovic or too close to the lines. That play, perhaps more than any other, has put Djokovic on a different level than every player in history. It tripped up Federer on match points or other big moments in the 2015 US Open and 2019 Wimbledon finals, and it worked to perfection against Sinner. He converted his only breakpoint in the 5th set from there, and won 2 points in the final game from there.
On paper, Sinner outplayed Djokovic. Sinner reportedly won more points on first serves, second serves, and returns, and won more points in total. But Djokovic won the clutch points, and the match, which ended at almost 2 am before a packed Laver Arena.
After it was all over, the most intelligent, articulate, polyglot athlete in history said he was “lost for words.”
So I’ll say it for him. It was one of his greatest achievements ever, and one of the greatest moments in tennis history.
Even if he has nothing left in the tank to counter the exuberance of peak Alcaraz on Sunday in Melbourne, history will remember that Djokovic won the day on the greatest semi-finals day in tennis history.
words and images copyright Christopher Johnson Globalite Media all rights reserved
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