Australian Open – Djokovic’s antidote – Alcaraz: Who said Djoko was “finished”?

It’s difficult to find a more telling match than this quarter-final to attest to this. Better off, based on experience, Djokovic saw Alcaraz finally enter his game late but with a lot of ambition. Dominant, aggressive and creative, the Spaniard managed to snatch the first set by breaking at 4-4. Time chosen by the “Djoker” for a medical break. Returning from the locker room with a big strap on his left thigh, he made more grimaces, chose his blows and his fights and almost gave the impression that the end was near. Deja vu? Absolutely. And that’s what’s reassuring about him.

Still in the game thanks to his serve at the end of the second set, he signed an absolutely crazy white break to get back to one set everywhere. What’s next? Pure and great Djoko. Tactically imperial, suddenly much more physically dashing, much more tennis opportunistic, the Serb was able to respond to the intensity proposed by Alcaraz and annihilate the Spaniard’s strong points in the exchange.

Even when everything pointed towards a comeback from the Spaniard, particularly in the fourth and final set, after a double break point dismissed in an absolutely masterful manner by Alcaraz, Djokovic never lost focus. With creativity and opposing power reduced to a minimum, a few provocations towards a crowd that only demanded spectacle and suspense, the Djoker took out his best costume to nip any rebellion in the bud. At 37 years old, this umpteenth classic delivered on this court, his court, proves that champions should never be buried too early. But even less Novak Djokovic, the immortal par excellence.

It’s a second set in the form of “double or nothing” for Djokovic. Dominated in the first round, the Serb appears physically exhausted and on the verge of giving up. Opposite, Alcaraz tries to fan the opponent’s bluff by multiplying the drop shots and lengthening the rallies. But the Djoker refuses to show his game and remains alive by the strength of a service whose place in history will frankly have to be reassessed as, in hot moments, he is tactically impeccable. Result, through gritted teeth, the Serb managed to lead 5-4 in the second set. Behind, it’s lightning that strikes Alcaraz with three hair-raising returns and a white break as unexpected as it is saving for Djoko. The wind has turned. For good.

The spectators at the Rod Laver Arena undoubtedly hoped that this would be a new turning point in this match, capable of taking this duel into another dimension with a fifth set in the knife. At 4-2 for Djokovic in the fifth set, the Serb manages to obtain a double-break point. 33 moves later, Alcaraz erased it by putting Djokovic back on the ropes. Not enough to send him to the mat.

Like the number of Grand Slam semi-finals contested by Novak Djokovic in his career. It’s obviously a record (46 for Federer, 38 for Nadal) but the most astonishing thing lies elsewhere. By converting his 50 halves into 24 titles, the Djoker is almost 50% final successful at this stage of the competition. Insane.

“It’s true that, in these kinds of situations, more needs to be done. I didn’t want to stay in rallies for too long. I saw that he was looking my way, watching how I moved. He tried a few drop shots, tried to test me. So I did everything to stay alive and play my game when I had an opening. It paid off. I played an incredible game at 5-4 in the second set. After that, everything became easier, with the wind at our backs.“

Who said it was finished? In recent months, the end of the “Big Three”, further materialized by the departure of Rafael Nadal, had somewhat unwillingly associated Novak Djokovic with the end of an era. This is still true. If 2024 marked a change, with the birth of an Alcaraz – Sinner duopoly, it would be presumptuous to declare the end of the Djoker era. The Serbian, of course, is no longer as dominant as before, no longer as sovereign on all grounds. But this Tuesday proves it more than ever: in hot times, it still remains an impregnable reference.

This victory, without upsetting all the predictions, has the merit of putting the Djokovic church back in the middle of the ATP village. Once again, we will have to count on him. His capacity for resilience, his experience, his psychological strengths: all the lights are green even if the evolution of his injury, as he explained at a press conference, will determine many things. But this victory is only a step.

After the world No. 3, Djokovic will rub shoulders with the No. 2 and then, potentially, the world No. 1. Never in the Open era has a player managed to win a Major after such a series. The kind of challenges that don’t scare the Serb. But, more than numbers, we must also focus on the identity of the players behind them. Alcaraz, through his style of play, is undoubtedly the perfect match-up for Djokovic, his purest opposite but also the one against whom his weapons are the most effective. The Spaniard’s “all-out” identity was his main limitation this Tuesday.

As we should not bury the Djoker, we must not neglect his future competitors either. Facing Zverev, but even more so facing Sinner, the opposition will be different and perhaps more annoying for the Serb. After all, in 2024, the Italian has sometimes been nicknamed “Djokovic 2.0”. It’s up to the latter to prove that he still has the fiber. The one that allows him to survive everything and ultimately win everything.