\u201cIt\u2019s an honour to be here in Melbourne every year,\u201d Alcaraz said, before writing on a TV camera lens: \u201cJob finished. Four out of four complete.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I just want to say thank you very much for pushing me in the tough moments during the matches.\u201d<\/p>\n
He paid tribute to Djokovic.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were talking about how I\u2019m doing the things I am, but what you\u2019re doing is really inspiring, not only for tennis players but athletes around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a first defeat for Djokovic in a Melbourne final, having won all 10 previously, leaving him still searching for a landmark 25th major to better Australia\u2019s Margaret Court, who was also watching on centre court.<\/p>\n
Djokovic, striving to become the oldest man to lift a Grand Slam singles trophy, last won one at the US Open in 2023. Since then, Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have shared the spoils.<\/p>\n
\u201cI must be very honest and say that I didn\u2019t think I would be standing in the closing ceremony of a Grand Slam again so I owe you the gratitude of pushing me forward in the last couple weeks,\u201d Djokovic said, speaking to the fans in the stadium.<\/p>\n
He went on to hint this could be his last time at Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod knows what happens tomorrow, let alone in six months or 12 months, so it has been a great ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also joked with Nadal in the stands, saying: \u201cThere are too many Spanish legends. I feel like I was one against two tonight. It\u2019s not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both men battled through five long sets in their semi-finals, Alcaraz against Alexander Zverev and Djokovic with Sinner, and recovery was always going to be key.<\/p>\n
But they showed few signs of fatigue in another gladiatorial contest.<\/p>\n
They both opened with comfortable holds before a double fault and netted forehand presented the first break point chance for Djokovic at 2-1.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz saved it, but the aggressive fourth seed kept pressing and converted on his third, then consolidated for a 4-1 lead.<\/p>\n
Djokovic was reading Alcaraz\u2019s serve well and once he got in the rallies was authoritative, with a sensational forehand winner earning him two set points.<\/p>\n
He claimed the set in a statement 33 minutes after a ninth unforced error from the top seed, having dominated the big moments.<\/p>\n
It was vintage Djokovic, but Alcaraz came storming back, upping the tempo to break for 2-1 in the second set, pumping his fist when he saved a break point and held in the next game.<\/p>\n
Djokovic put drops in his eyes and began rubbing them, unable to tame a now rampant Alcaraz who broke again for 5-2.<\/p>\n
There were some sensational rallies that had the crowd on their feet in set three, which went with serve until Djokovic slapped a forehand wide under pressure to slip 2-3 behind.<\/p>\n
He gamely saved four set points at 3-5 but with his energy levels dropping was unable to save a fifth as the Spaniard took control.<\/p>\n
On the back foot, Djokovic then saved six break points in an 11-minute opening service game in set four to stay alive and kept fighting hard.<\/p>\n
But Alcaraz ground him down and pounced as Djokovic served to stay in the match to seal a maiden Australian championship.<\/p>\n
It ensured he remained world No 1 and Sinner two, with Djokovic moving up a place to three ahead of Zverev.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s an honour to be here in Melbourne every year,\u201d Alcaraz said, before writing on a TV camera…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2246,141959,12231,1135,6726,2046,12230,3381,27914,141954,1888,10813,16773,41722,661,111,139,141953,69,5493,4517,150390,10814,213,124561,19875,2563,61,19347,6027,56521],"class_list":["post-262733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2246","tag-25th","tag-alcaraz","tag-australian","tag-become","tag-career","tag-carlos","tag-complete","tag-denying","tag-djokovic","tag-first","tag-grand","tag-great","tag-maiden","tag-major","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-novak","tag-nz","tag-open","tag-past","tag-serbian","tag-slam","tag-sports","tag-sweeps","tag-swept","tag-title","tag-to","tag-unprecedented","tag-win","tag-youngest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}