{"id":403959,"date":"2026-02-02T14:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/403959\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T14:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:45:12","slug":"how-rafael-nadals-heroics-at-australian-open-inspired-carlos-alcaraz-to-victory-over-novak-djokovic-in-final-i-was-thinking-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/403959\/","title":{"rendered":"How Rafael Nadal’s heroics at Australian Open inspired Carlos Alcaraz to victory over Novak Djokovic in final – ‘I was thinking about it’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Highlights: Alcaraz beats Djokovic to complete career Grand Slam<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> revealed how he was inspired by Rafael Nadal’s Australian Open<\/a> heroics after beating Novak Djokovic<\/a> to win the title in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz, 22, became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam after beating Djokovic in four sets.<\/p>\n

The match was watched on Rod Laver Arena by all-time great Nadal, who had said beforehand that he would be rooting for his fellow Spaniard to triumph<\/a>.Nadal congratulated Alcaraz following the win<\/a> as the pair shared a hug and exchanged warm words.”I mean, this moment is really special, but having Rafa in the stands, it made it even more special to be honest,” Alcaraz told 9News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both Alcaraz and Djokovic had been pushed to five sets in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz recovered from cramp to overcome Alexander Zverev in a five-hour epic<\/a> and didn\u2019t appear to show any signs of being physically hampered in the final.<\/p>\n

He said he drew inspiration from a similar situation involving Nadal at the 2009 Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Nadal battled past Fernando Verdasco in a gruelling semi-final that lasted five hours and 14 minutes, before then beating Roger Federer in the final.<\/p>\n

\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Watch ‘special’ moment as Nadal congratulates Alcaraz<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

“After the semi-final, I just thought about that semi-final in 2009 he played against Verdasco, and then he came back physically and played such a great final against Federer and won,” said Alcaraz.<\/p>\n

“So I was thinking a little bit about it. It’s just about pushing through and having him there, I was like watching him and he gave me some good spirit, good mindset.”<\/p>\n

Alcaraz has now won seven Grand Slam titles, moving him level with Mats Wilander and John McEnroe in the all-time standings.<\/p>\n

Aged just 22, TNT Sports expert Tim Henman said it is not “unrealistic” to think Alcaraz could challenge Djokovic\u2019s total of 24 majors<\/a>.\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Highlights: Alcaraz beats Djokovic to complete career Grand Slam<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

Alcaraz was asked whether his Melbourne triumph can lead to him dreaming of winning all four Grand Slams this year.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to be a big challenge,” he replied. “Those are big words. I just want it to be one at a time. Right now, the next one is French Open. I have great memories in that tournament. I feel really special every time that I go there.<\/p>\n

“So I don’t want to put myself in a really pressure position to have to do it, but it’s going to be great.<\/p>\n

“Right now I will try to be ready, to work hard, to just recover and practice well to play a good tournament in the next Grand Slam.”<\/p>\n

\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Alcaraz hails ‘really inspiring’ Djokovic after winning Australian Open<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

The 2026 French Open, which will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+<\/a>, starts on May 24.<\/p>\n

As well as defending his title there, Alcaraz says he has other targets, including winning the last three Masters events missing from his collection in Canada, Shanghai and Paris.<\/p>\n

“I hate losing, so that’s my motivation,” he said. “There are some tournaments that I really want to win at least once.<\/p>\n

“A few Masters 1000 I just really want to complete all the Masters 1000, trying to win at least once every Masters.<\/p>\n

“Obviously the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup. The Davis Cup, it is a goal as well. I really wanted to achieve that for my country, for Spain. I set up some other goals for the season, and I will try to get those goals.”<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the final against Djokovic, Alcaraz said he had to maintain his belief after being broken twice to lose the first set.<\/p>\n

“Tennis can change, just one point. One point, one feeling, one shot can change the whole match completely.<\/p>\n

“The first set, I think he played great. I was hitting the ball well. I was moving well. I think all I can say I played well the first set, but in front of me I had a great and inspired Novak, who was playing great, great shots.<\/p>\n

“In the second set I think the first game he made a few easy mistakes that he hadn’t had in the first set, so that gave me a lot of calm, and I believe that the match could change a little bit if I stayed there mentally strong or mentally positive, trying to be solid, I just change a little bit tactically what already didn’t work in the first set.<\/p>\n

“I changed a little bit, and I think that that helped a lot to get into the match again and I feel comfortable and calmer in the match.”<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Watch and stream live tennis – including the 2026 French Open – on TNT Sports and discovery+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Highlights: Alcaraz beats Djokovic to complete career Grand Slam Video credit: TNT Sports Carlos Alcaraz revealed how he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[148728,101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-403959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-australian-open-mens-singles-2026","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}