MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� 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, in four sets on Sunday night.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e speaking to me 10 minutes after I lost the final, so of course I鈥檓 going to be a little bit bitter about losing,鈥� Djokovic said in his official post-final news conference. 鈥淏ut, again, I lost to a No. 1 in the world and already a legendary player.鈥�
It was the first time Djokovic has ever lost a final at Melbourne Park, where he’s won 10 of his . 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 , 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 鈥� Alcaraz 鈥� 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.
1 out of 2
鈥淚 knew that I鈥檇 probably have to beat two of them on the way to the title,鈥� Djokovic said. 鈥淚 beat one, which is great, so it鈥檚 a step more further than I have gone in Grand Slams than last year. Very nice, encouraging.
鈥淏ut, you know, not enough for me. I鈥檓 going to keep pushing and see if I get another chance.鈥�
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 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.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great that I was able to beat Jannik in five and really battle Carlos in four close sets,鈥� he said. 鈥淵eah, 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.
鈥淏ut of course, when you draw a line and you make assessment of what happened last couple of weeks, it鈥檚 incredible achievement for me to be able to play finals, be couple of sets away maybe to win a championship.鈥�
Aura
Alcaraz said it was like a master class every time he faced Djokovic, and 鈥淓very time that I鈥檓 able to feel that aura from him on the other side of the net, for me it鈥檚 a privilege.鈥�
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.
鈥淚t’s unbelievable what he鈥檚 doing,鈥� Alcaraz said. 鈥淚f he maintains this level of tennis during the whole season, he鈥檚 going to, you know, win great things.
鈥淚t depends how physically he is or how demanding physically is the tournament for him, but I think he鈥檚 ready to keep winning the big tournaments.鈥�
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