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Novak Djokovic has revealed that he was almost forced to retire from his “epic” quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open.
Djokovic secured victory in a thrilling last eight clash in four sets, fighting back from a set down while battling an injury.
The 24-time grand slam champion took an injury timeout at the end of the first set as Alcaraz nudged in front and appeared in severe discomfort, but roared back to take the match in a vintage performance.
But the 37-year-old Serb contemplated not continuing at all as Alcaraz threatened to build a two-set advantage, with only his resurgence in levelling the match encouraging him to keep playing.
“Since I am still in the tournament, I don’t want to reveal too much,” Djokovic explained of the injury in his on-court interview after victory was sealed. “The medication started to kick in. That helped, no doubt. I had to take another dose.
“If I’d lost that second set, I don’t know if I’d have continued playing. [But] I felt better and better and managed to play a great couple of games at the end of the second set. Then I saw that Carlos was hesitant a little bit at the back of the court and I took my chances, started to feel better and move better.
“It didn’t bother me or create any hindrance towards the end of the match. When the medication starts to release, I’ll see what the reality is tomorrow morning. Right now I am just trying to be in the moment and enjoy this victory. It’s one of the most epic matches that I’ve played on any court.”
Victory in Melbourne continues Djokovic’s pursuit of a record 25th grand slam crown. Alcaraz, meanwhile, had been hoping to complete a career grand slam, though will have to wait for another year at least to claim the one major title that eludes him.
The Spaniard struggled to adjust to a radical shift in strategy from his opponent, with Djokovic playing much more aggressively, particularly when addled by the injury.
The seventh seed eventually closed out the match after three hours and 38 minutes at just before 1am local time, setting up a semi-final encounter with Alexander Zverev.
“You don’t want to be playing with an injury, but you have to adapt to the circumstances and whatever you are facing on the court,” Djokovic added to Eurosport. “It’s not the first time for me, here in 2021 and 2023 I had similar things. I played some of my best tennis after that.
“I have an extra day off and hopefully that will help. Once the body cools down, I will know what the reality is. It has been one of the best battles and matches that I have played on any court. I had to do better than I have done the entire tournament. I don’t know how I got out of that trouble towards end of the fourth set and I’m just super pleased to get through.”
