Down a set and dealing with an upper leg injury, Novak Djokovic recovered to beat Carlos Alcaraz at Australian Open 2025 to maintain his chances of landing a record 25th major.
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The Serb’s gripping 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 victory over Alcaraz in three hours, 37 minutes on a cool Tuesday evening in Melbourne sent the 10-time tournament champion into the semifinals against Alexander Zverev.
“One of the most epic matches I’ve played on this court, any court really,” he told former No.1 Jim Courier afterwards.
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With that semifinal taking place on Friday, it gives Djokovic an extra day to regroup, which could be crucial for the 37-year-old.
Djokovic has now won four of his past five matches against Alcaraz in their engrossing rivalry, and all three overall on hard courts.
More major titles are sure to come for Alcaraz, but the 21-year-old won’t leave Australia this fortnight as the youngest man to complete his Grand Slam collection.
Proceedings felt like they were going his way, however, when Djokovic left the court trailing 5-4 in the first set to receive a medical timeout as wife Jelena and kids Tara and Stefan watched.
He returned with a taped upper left leg.
“Since I’m still in the tournament I don’t want to reveal too much,” Djokovic said about the injury. “But the medication started to kick in and they helped, no doubt. I had to take another dose.
“If I lost that second set, I don’t know if I would continue playing but I felt better and better.”
Visibly hampered in his movement for most of the second, Djokovic sought to end points quicker.
He served and volleyed, swatted at returns and upped the intensity on his ground strokes.
Seeing a break lead dissipate, Djokovic hung tough at 4-4 and then broke to love courtesy of a ripped backhand return.
In the third, he began to patrol the court looking more like himself – evidenced by Djokovic claiming 16 of 27 points when rallies exceeded five shots.
“Managed to play a great couple of games to end the second set, and then I saw that Carlos was hesitant from the back of the court and I took my chances,” said Djokovic.
“Started to feel and move better. It didn’t bother me, didn’t create any hindrance toward the end of the match, only in the second set.”
Alcaraz just wasn’t able to hold serve with ease.
The four-time Grand Slam champion faced break points in his first three service games in the third, eventually broken for 2-4.
Though he countered immediately, another break to love went against him.
Djokovic capped the game with a forehand winner on a 22nd shot, then pointed to his ear. Yes, the fans duly responded.
They did it again in a spectacular end to the set.
Alcaraz authored a drop shot, lob combination, only to see Djokovic remain in the point with a defensive lob.
Alcaraz crunched a forehand approach, but was met with a rocketed backhand pass.
All the momentum rested with Djokovic now, and he grabbed a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
Alcaraz avoided a knockout blow by saving a break point on a 33-shot rally at 2-4 that left Djokovic agitated and Alcaraz smiling.
Djokovic glanced at his coaching box that included Andy Murray, while Alcaraz seemed to have a brief chat with another former world No.1 who was in his corner, Juan Carlos Ferrero.
It is the type of point that changes momentum, and an inspired Alcaraz indeed manufactured two break points in the next game.
But as the set and perhaps the match teetered, Alcaraz mishit a forehand and Djokovic successfully served and volleyed to hold.
Alcaraz didn’t get another chance.
Alcaraz sent a forehand into the net on match point, prompting a roar from Djokovic.
Seconds later, he and Murray hugged, and his kids stuck around even at 1am local time.
“I guess the key is recovery for me now,” said Djokovic, who overcame injuries in 2021 and 2023 to triumph at Melbourne Park.
“That’s all I’m thinking about. The extra day with no match comes at the perfect time for me. Hopefully I can come out (in the semifinals) and feel my best.”