Who: Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic
What: Men\u2019s singles final \u2013 Australian Open 2026
When: Sunday, February 1 at 19:30 (08:30 GMT)
Where: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
How to follow: Al Jazeera\u2019s live text and photo stream gets under way at 05:30 GMT<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic stands one step away from cementing his place as the greatest tennis player of all time. In his way, though, is Carlos Alcaraz \u2013 a modern adversary seeking a career milestone of his own.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
Tennis history will be rewritten when the pair meet in the men\u2019s singles final of the Australian Open 2026 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Djokovic is seeking his 25th major title to go past Margaret Court in the all-time Grand Slam winners\u2019 list in the Open Era, while Alcaraz \u2013 16 years his junior \u2013 is looking to become the youngest player to complete a Career Grand Slam by winning the only one eluding his trophy cabinet.<\/p>\n
At 38 years old, the Serb is already the oldest man to have qualified for a Grand Slam final, but he will be looking to make the most of his appearance in Sunday\u2019s blockbuster final to seal a record-extending 25th men\u2019s title.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Alcaraz, who was the last man to beat Djokovic in a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon 2024, will aim to convert his debut final at the Australian Open into a night when he seals a career Slam.<\/p>\n
Both men enter the match on the back of epic semifinal wins on Rod Laver Arena on Friday, with top seed and world number one Alcaraz having a slightly longer recovery period than fourth-seeded Djokovic.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the Alcaraz-Djokovic tennis rivalry?<\/p>\n
In the five years since his first appearance in the main round of a Grand Slam, Alcaraz has swiftly become the face of men\u2019s tennis, and his brief history with the iconic Djokovic is often seen as a passing-of-the-baton inter-generational rivalry.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz is known for his speed and power, while Djokovic relies on his experience, consistency and resilience to fend off the next generation of tennis talents.<\/p>\n
The young Spaniard\u2019s first meeting against Djokovic came at the Madrid Open in 2022, where the home favourite beat the veteran in straight sets.<\/p>\n
Since then, the pair have met in Grand Slam settings on five occasions, with Alcaraz winning both finals but Djokovic emerging victorious at the Olympics to complete his Career Super Slam.<\/p>\n
Overall, the Serb edges his rival by five wins to four in their nine meetings.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz vs Djokovic: Head-to-head<\/p>\n
Career win-loss record<\/p>\n
Djokovic: 1163\/233
\nAlcaraz: 280\/65<\/p>\n
Career titles:<\/p>\n
Djokovic: 101
\nAlcaraz: 24<\/p>\n
Career prize money:<\/p>\n
Djokovic: $191.2m
\nAlcaraz: $60m<\/p>\n
Year turned pro:<\/p>\n
Djokovic: 2003
\nAlcaraz: 2018
\nAlcaraz at Grand Slams<\/p>\n
Titles: 6<\/p>\n
French Open: 2024, 2025<\/p>\n
Wimbledon: 2023, 2024<\/p>\n
US Open: 2022, 2025<\/p>\n
Djokovic at Grand Slams<\/p>\n
Titles: 24<\/p>\n
Australian Open: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023<\/p>\n
French Open: 2016, 2021, 2023<\/p>\n
Wimbledon: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022<\/p>\n
US Open: 2011, 2015, 2018, 2023<\/p>\n
Who won the last Alcaraz-Djokovic match?<\/p>\n
Their last encounter was in the semifinals of the US Open 2025, where eventual champion Alcaraz was too strong for the four-time winner Djokovic.<\/p>\n
The match ended 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in Alcaraz\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n
How did Alcaraz reach the Australian Open 2026 final?<\/p>\n
An ailing Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev in a five-set epic to reach his first Australian Open final in a match lasting five hours and 27 minutes.\u00a0The world number one outlasted the German third seed in hot conditions with a cramping body.<\/p>\n
Road to the final:<\/p>\n
First round: Beat Adam Walton 6-3, 7-6(7-2), 6-2
\nSecond round: Beat Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(7-4), 6-3, 6-2
\nThird round: Beat Corentin Moutet 6-2, 6-4, 6-1
\nFourth round: Beat Tommy Paul 7-6(7-6), 6-4, 7-5
\nQuarterfinal: Beat Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-2, 6-1
\nSemifinal: Beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (7\/5), 6-7 (3\/7), 6-7 (4\/7), 7-5
\nHow did Djokovic reach the Australian Open 2026 final?<\/p>\n
Djokovic stunned reigning champion Jannik Sinner early on Saturday, with the veteran turning back the clock to upset the Italian in a gruelling four-hour-nine-minute match.<\/p>\n
Road to the final:<\/p>\n
First round: Beat Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
\nSecond round: Beat Francesco Maestrelli 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
\nThird round: Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(7-4)
\nFourth round: Beat Jakub Mensik via walkover
\nQuarterfinal: Beat Lorenzo Musetti 4-6, 3-6, 3-1 retired
\nSemifinal: Beat Jannik Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
\nWhat\u2019s being said about the Djokovic-Alcaraz Australian Open final?<\/p>\n
Tennis experts, fans and former champions have been weighing in on what promises to be a modern epic.<\/p>\n
Rafael Nadal: \u201cI think the favourite is Carlos. He\u2019s young, he has the energy and he\u2019s in his prime. But I mean, Novak is Novak. He\u2019s a very special player. I think it\u2019s a positive example of commitment, of resilience. Novak, for obvious reasons, is not at his prime, but he is still very, very competitive at an age that is difficult to be very competitive. So full respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andy Roddick: \u201cMan regrets inspiring child.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much is the prize money for the Australian Open champion?<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s singles champion and runner-up will receive $2.9m and $1.5m, respectively, from the total tournament prize money of $78.1m.<\/p>\n
How to stream and follow the Australian Open 2026 final?<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s build-up to the final will begin at 05:30 GMT, before the live score, photo and text commentary stream from 08:30 GMT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who: Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak DjokovicWhat: Men\u2019s singles final \u2013 Australian Open 2026When: Sunday, February 1 at 19:30…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[1204,1246,3,1079,99,428],"class_list":["post-442196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-asia-pacific","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}