MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — As only true champions do, Novak Djokovic assessed a tournament where he got within two sets of achieving a record 25th Grand Slam title as something to work on.
In an Australian Open final where both men were chasing history, 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz came back to beat Djokovic in four sets on Sunday night.
“You’re speaking to me 10 minutes after I lost the final, so of course I’m going to be a little bit bitter about losing,” Djokovic said in his official post-final news conference. “But, again, I lost to a No. 1 in the world and already a legendary player.”
It was the first time Djokovic has ever lost a final at Melbourne Park, where he's won 10 of his 24 Grand Slam singles titles. That's already a record in men's tennis and in the Open era. It's something he's still determined to improve on.
He ended a sequence of four semifinal losses at the Slams with a semifinal win over two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, one of the two men who've been blocking his path to that 25th championship for two years.
He took a set off the other one — Alcaraz — but couldn't complete the job, not quite recovering from the epic semifinal that didn't finish until after 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.
One out of two
“I knew that I’d probably have to beat two of them on the way to the title,” Djokovic said. “I beat one, which is great, so it’s a step more further than I have gone in Grand Slams than last year. Very nice, encouraging.
“But, you know, not enough for me. I’m going to keep pushing and see if I get another chance.”
The 38-year-old Djokovic said he'd lowered his expectations when he openly conceded that Alcaraz and Sinner were playing on a higher level than anyone else in tennis, and it took some pressure off. But he hasn't lost faith he can still beat anyone on his day.
A few breaks helped Djokovic on his way to a 38th Grand Slam final, including a walkover in the fourth round and a lucky reprieve when he was down two sets in the quarterfinals before Lorenzo Musetti retired in the third set because of injury.
That primed him up for the five-setter against Sinner, and meant he'd been on court for four hours fewer than Alcaraz ahead of the final.
But a 16-year age gap is huge when there's less than 48 hours between massive showdowns.
“It’s great that I was able to beat Jannik in five and really battle Carlos in four close sets,” he said. “Yeah, I remain disappointed with the way I felt in second and third after an incredible start, and I felt great about myself and then, yeah, things changed.
“But of course, when you draw a line and you make assessment of what happened last couple of weeks, it’s incredible achievement for me to be able to play finals, be couple of sets away maybe to win a championship.”
Aura
Alcaraz said it was like a master class every time he faced Djokovic, and “Every time that I’m able to feel that aura from him on the other side of the net, for me it’s a privilege.”
It was also inspiring, he said, the way Djokovic defied the critics who said he was too old to break up the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly or reach another major final.
“It's unbelievable what he’s doing,” Alcaraz said. “If he maintains this level of tennis during the whole season, he’s going to, you know, win great things.
“It depends how physically he is or how demanding physically is the tournament for him, but I think he’s ready to keep winning the big tournaments.”
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