Djokovic will bid for the standalone record of 25 grand slam titles, and his first in 18 months, on Sunday after producing a vintage performance <\/a>against the 24-year-old Sinner, who had won his last five matches against Djokovic and his last 19 in a row at this tournament. <\/p>\n In doing so, Djokovic battled from two sets to one down, denying Sinner a fourth consecutive grand slam final against his rival Alcaraz, and proving that he remains a contender for the biggest titles in a match where he began as the major underdog. <\/p>\n Djokovic\u2019s bid for a record 25th grand slam title looked to be over as he trailed Lorenzo Musetti<\/a> by two sets in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, but Djokovic admitted he was on his way home and \u201cextremely lucky\u201d to progress as the Italian retired with a right leg injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier, Alcaraz downed third seed Alexander Zverev<\/a> in a thriller to book a place in his first Australian Open final<\/a>. The Spaniard led by two sets to love before being derailed by a sudden onset of cramp, with Zverev roaring back to win the next two sets on tie-breaks to force a decider – but Alcaraz dragged himself back from the brink to keep his hopes of becoming the youngest man to complete the career grand slam alive.<\/p>\n He will now look to recover ahead of what will be a historic occasion on Sunday<\/a>. <\/p>\n Follow latest score updates from the Australian Open, below<\/p>\n Australian Open latest scores and updates <\/a>Aryna Sabalenka v Elena Rybakina start time and how to watch Australian Open final<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka bids to regain her Australian Open crown as she faces Elena Rybakina in a big-hitting rematch of their dramatic final from three years ago.<\/p>\n The world No 1 was stunned by Madison Keys in last year\u2019s final but is looking to win her third title in four years after reaching another final in Melbourne, having beaten Rybakina to win her first in 2023.<\/p>\n Both have been in dominant form this tournament, and Sabalenka and Rybakina are the first players to advance to a grand slam women\u2019s final without dropping a set since Serena and Venus Williams in 2008.<\/p>\n Fifth seed Rybakina moved into her first grand slam final in three years by continuing her winning streak against top-10 players with wins against Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula.<\/p>\n Rybakina may have lost to Sabalenka three years ago, but the 2022 Wimbledon winner claimed a statement win over the world No 1 at the WTA Finals at the end of last season.<\/p>\n Sabalenka will be bidding for her fifth grand slam title overall after continuing her excellent consistency with a seventh hard-court grand slam final in a row.<\/p>\n Jamie Braidwood30 January 2026 23:33<\/p>\n <\/a>Novak Djokovic v Carlos Alcaraz start time and how to watch Australian Open final<\/p>\n One way or another, history will be made in the Australian Open final on Sunday as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz meet with two career-defining achievements on the line.<\/p>\n After one of the most dramatic semi-final days the tournament has seen, Djokovic returned to his 11th Australian Open final by stunning the defending champion Jannik Sinner in five sets to move one one away from the standalone record of 25 grand slam singles titles. Djokovic, at 38, is also bidding to become the oldest Australian Open champion of all time.<\/p>\n At the other end of the scale, world No 1 Alcaraz can become the youngest man of all time to complete the career grand slam, at the age of 22, after reaching his first Australian Open final. The Spaniard triumphed in five hours and 27 minutes to beat Alexander Zverev in five sets on Friday, in the longest semi-final in the tournament\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Jamie Braidwood30 January 2026 22:33<\/p>\n <\/a>Djokovic\u2019s four-word response reveals motivation behind epic run<\/p>\n Djokovic seemingly hit back at his critics on Friday, with a subtle message in the aftermath of his Australian Open win against Sinner.<\/p>\n In the moments after his win against Sinner, Djokovic wrote on a camera lens on Rod Laver arena \u2013 a customary move for most players at most tournaments. However, while most players sign their names, Djokovic took the opportunity to send a message.<\/p>\n \u201cNesto ste rekli?\u201d he wrote in Serbian, which translates to: \u201cDid you say something?\u201d<\/p>\n The message has been interpreted as a response to his Djokovic\u2019s critics, whom he later addressed during a post-match press conference.<\/p>\n Alex Pattle30 January 2026 22:14<\/p>\n <\/a>Djokovic\u2019s sporting gesture to Alcaraz minutes before Sinner tie<\/p>\n As Djokovic awaited his semi-final with Sinner today, the Serb took a moment to speak to Alcaraz backstage.<\/p>\n While Alcaraz cooled down on a cycling machine, cameras captured Djokovic walking over to shake the Spaniard\u2019s hand and those of his teammates.<\/p>\n Although Djokovic\u2019s words were inaudible, he was seen patting Alcaraz on the back and bringing the younger player to laughter while walking away.<\/p>\n There will be little time for laughing and joking on court on Sunday!<\/p>\n Alex Pattle30 January 2026 21:29<\/p>\n <\/a>Remarkable stat proves key to Djokovic\u2019s triumph<\/p>\n Speaking of stats, this one was absolutely vital in Djokovic\u2019s victory today:<\/p>\n The 38-year-old saved 16 out of the 18 break points that he faced.<\/p>\n That is a truly stunning show of resilience.<\/p>\n He will surely face similar adversity against Alcaraz. Can he be so defiant on Sunday?<\/p>\n Alex Pattle30 January 2026 20:29<\/p>\n <\/a>How did Djokovic raise his level after scare against Musetti?<\/p>\n Djokovic: \u201cI never stopped believing in myself, you know. There\u2019s a lot of people that doubt me. I see there is a lot of experts all of a sudden that wanted to retire me \u2013 or have retired me many times the last couple of years.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank them all, because they gave me strength. They gave me motivation to prove them wrong, which I have tonight. <\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it\u2019s not a surprise, to be honest. I know what I\u2019m capable of. So, I\u2019ve had many, many times in my career matches during a grand slam where it\u2019s just one of those days where you\u2019re not feeling your best. <\/p>\n \u201cYou try to find a way to win with everything that you possibly have, even though the quality of tennis is not even close to where you want it to be. So that was the case, you know? Again, I was lucky that obviously Lorenzo got hurt and retired that match. <\/p>\n \u201cTwo days later, obviously different opponent. I knew exactly what\u2019s expected of me on the court, and I came out with the right, great clarity and strategy and gameplan and what needs to be executed. <\/p>\n \u201cObviously easier said than done. You know, one thing is to imagine how you want to play, and the other thing is to deliver it and execute it on the court against Sinner, [who] we all know is playing an extremely high level. <\/p>\n \u201cI mean, I\u2019m just thrilled to be able to experience something like this tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Pattle30 January 2026 19:29<\/p>\n <\/a>How does Djokovic recover \/ prepare for Sunday\u2019s final?<\/p>\n Djokovic: \u201cI don\u2019t know. Let\u2019s see. You know, it\u2019s almost 3am… Yeah, let\u2019s see. <\/p>\n \u201cI cannot make any predictions right now. Definitely not going to train tomorrow, just going to use every hour I possibly can to recover. <\/p>\n \u201cHopefully get out on the finals day feeling somewhat refreshed.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Pattle30 January 2026 18:29<\/p>\n <\/a>Djokovic bids to become oldest man to win Australian Open<\/p>\n Djokovic tells the press: \u201cFor me, I think 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. <\/p>\n \u201cThe finals of grand slams, you know, there\u2019s a lot at stake, but it\u2019s no different from any other big match that I play. My preparation is as it should be, and I won against him last year here, you know, also in a gruelling match [in the quarter-finals].<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s see how fresh are we both able to be. He also had a big match, but he has 15, 16 years on me. You know, biologically I think it\u2019s going to be a bit easier for him to recover! But, yeah, I look forward to it. <\/p>\n \u201cLook, I play tennis competitively mainly to be able to reach the finals of grand slams. Here I am, so I cannot complain about anything. I\u2019m just trying to enjoy the moment that I\u2019m experiencing tonight. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll think about finals later, but for me, this is a win that almost equals winning a grand slam.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Pattle30 January 2026 17:29<\/p>\n <\/a>Djokovic\u2019s finest win ever? McEnroe makes the argument<\/p>\n Djokovic tells the press: \u201cTo be honest, I wouldn\u2019t dare to call it \u2018ever\u2019, \u2018finest ever\u2019, but definitely the finest in the last couple of years. <\/p>\n \u201cUnder the circumstances and semis, against Sinner who has been playing the best tennis of his life in the last couple of years \u2013 particularly here, two-time defending champion\u00a0\u2013 it doesn\u2019t get better than this.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, when I started my preparations for the new season and kind of set the goals, it\u2019s no secret that grand slams are where I want to play my best tennis, but it becomes… I guess, more difficult for me to motivate myself. <\/p>\n \u201cI ask myself questions. \u2018Ok, what is it that I\u2019m looking for from myself?\u2019 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. <\/p>\n \u201cSo, very fortunate to already get it in the first slam of the year! Yeah, big win, very proud, very happy, very relieved, as well \u2013 because it was physically very demanding and gruelling.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Pattle30 January 2026 16:59<\/p>\n <\/a>How Djokovic proved us all wrong in vintage comeback<\/p>\n As Novak Djokovic<\/a> turned his attention to his latest showdown with Jannik Sinner<\/a>, he heard something that would end up flipping this Australian Open<\/a> upside down. In the post-match press conference that followed his quarter-final with Lorenzo Musetti, where Djokovic admitted he was preparing to head home before the Italian retired from two sets up<\/a>, he bristled at the wording of a question that asked him to compare how he felt \u201cchasing\u201d Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the start of his career to how he feels now, with Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Sinner dominating.<\/p>\n Djokovic stopped. The wording of the question, he said, was \u201cdisrespectful\u201d in leaving out the decade in between where he had been the dominant force. Suddenly, he had that fire in his eye. \u201cI’m going to fight until the last shot, until the last point, and do my very best to challenge them,\u201d Djokovic said.<\/p>\n Two nights later, at close to 2am in Melbourne, Djokovic rose to the challenge as he produced a vintage performance and one of the wins of his career in dethroning the Australian Open champion.<\/p>\n Jamie Braidwood30 January 2026 16:30<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘I was on my way home’ – Djokovic saved by Musetti retirement A 38-year-old Novak Djokovic became the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-448392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI282890102.jpeg\")
(AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n