Novak Djokovic moment with Carlos Alcaraz spotted | Sports News

Novak Djokovic discovered himself in a holding sample earlier than his thirteenth Australian Open semi-final as Carlos Alcaraz’s marathon battle with Alexander Zverev stretched properly past its scheduled time.

Broadcast footage captured hundreds of night time session ticketholders queuing exterior Rod Laver Arena, whereas Sinner was additionally filmed wandering the corridors forward of his semi-final showdown.

Djokovic and Sinner ultimately stepped onto the courtroom roughly 90 minutes not on time – but the Serbian legend nonetheless discovered a moment to acknowledge Alcaraz’s outstanding triumph. The 38-year-old was seen making his option to Alcaraz within the gamers’ gymnasium the place the Spaniard was cooling down on an train bike, surrounded by his teaching employees.

The world No. 4 walked over to the Alcaraz camp and promptly exchanged handshakes with his youthful opponent, earlier than greeting the remainder of the workforce with comparable gestures. Djokovic gave Alcaraz one other encouraging pat on the back earlier than departing to finalize his own match preparations.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion will likely be aiming to face Alcaraz as soon as more on Sunday, although this time in competitors. Djokovic superior to the semi-finals in any respect 4 Major tournaments final 12 months however didn’t progress additional – and is keen to return to championship rivalry.

He bowed out after dropping the primary set of his semi-final to Zverev in Melbourne a 12 months in the past. Sinner then triumphed over Djokovic on the French Open and Wimbledon, whereas Alcaraz ousted him from the US Open.

The world’s top-ranked participant has already secured his spot within the championship match after a nail-biting encounter with Zverev. Alcaraz started cramping at 4-4 within the third set, and the German compelled a fifth set, taking an early lead.

However, the Spanish sensation fought back to win the final 4 video games, breaking Zverev’s serve when he was on the brink of securing a remaining berth. When requested how he managed to tug off the victory.

Alcaraz informed the group, “Believing, believing all the time. I always say that you have to believe in yourself, no matter what, no matter your struggles or what you have been through.

“No matter something, you’ve got to nonetheless consider in your self all of the time. I used to be struggling within the center of the third set. Physically, it was one of essentially the most demanding matches that I’ve ever performed in my short profession.

“But I have been in this kind of situation and matches before, so I knew what I had to do. I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it, I fought until the last ball, and I knew that I was going to have my chances. I was passionate in the fifth set but I am, you know, extremely proud in myself the way that I fought and came back in the fifth set.”