When Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz face off in Sunday night’s Australian Open 2026 men’s singles final, tennis history is destined to be rewritten.
Standing on one side of Rod Laver Arena will be a 38-year-old pursuing his 25th major and aiming to become the oldest AO men’s singles champion in the Open Era. On the other? A 22-year-old hunting for his seventh major and vying to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
“For me, 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 Serbian world No.4 said after his marathon upset over two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner.
“The finals of Grand Slam, there's a lot at stake.
“I won against him last year here, also in a gruelling match, so let's see how fresh are we both able to be. He also had a big, big match, but he's got about 15, 16 years on me, so biologically, I think it's gonna be a bit easier for him to recover, but I look forward to it.”
Djokovic is thrilled that he’s earned a chance to compete on a final Sunday of the AO for the first time since he hoisted his 10th title in 2023.
“I play tennis competitively mainly to be able to reach the finals of a Grand Slam,” he said.
“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 the finals later, but for me, this is a win that almost equals winning a Grand Slam.
“It doesn't get better than this.”
The fourth seed described his triumph over Jannik Sinner as his finest performance in the last couple of years, especially considering the form that the Italian carried into AO 2026.
“I knew exactly what was expect[ed of] me on the court, and I came out with the right great clarity and strategy and game plan,” he said. “[It’s] one thing to imagine how you want to play, and the other thing is to deliver it and execute it on the court against Sinner that we all know is playing an extremely high level.
“Big win, very proud, very happy, very relieved as well, because it was physically very demanding and gruelling.
“I'm just thrilled to be able to experience something like this tonight.”
The father-of-two, who has reiterated a desire to play his best tennis at Grand Slams, said when he set his goals for the 2026 season, he came up with some obvious targets.
“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.”
The holder of 101 career titles hopes his victory over Sinner will silence his skeptics.
“I never stopped doubting, I never stopped believing in myself [but] there's a lot of people that doubt me, and there's a lot of experts, all of a sudden, that wanted to retire me, or we have retired me many times in the last couple of years," he said, "but 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."
Djokovic, speaking to members of the press as the clock approached 3am on Saturday morning, said he’ll focus intently on recovering ahead of Sunday night’s showdown with Alcaraz.
“Definitely not gonna train tomorrow," he said. "I'm just gonna use every hour I possibly can to recover and hopefully get out on the finals day feeling somewhat refreshed.”