AO 2026: Don't stop believing

Carlos survives

After five hours and 27 minutes of battle, blowing a two-sets-to-love lead, overcoming cramps, and rallying back from a break down the decider, the first word uttered by Alcaraz in his on-court interview was ‘believing’.

Jim Courier asked him how he pulled off his 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 victory over Alexander Zverev and Alcaraz did not hesitate to respond.

“Believing. Believing all the time. I always say that you have to believe in yourself no matter what you’re struggling with, what you’ve been through. No matter anything, you’ve got to still believe in yourself all the time,” said the world No.1.

“I was struggling in the middle of third set. It was, physically, one of the most demanding matches I’ve ever played. But I’ve been in these kind of situations, I’ve been in these kind of 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. I knew that I was going to have my chances. I’m extremely proud about my serve and the way that I fought and the way that I came back in the fifth set.”

After taking the opening two sets, Alcaraz began cramping in the ninth game of the third. The Spaniard was visibly struggling to move, despite receiving treatment, which drew the ire of Zverev, who complained that it was against the rules to call a medical timeout for a cramp.  

The German third seed didn’t let the opportunity slip though, as he served impeccably to take the third and fourth sets in two tiebreaks, before breaking early in the fifth.

That could have spelled the end for Alcaraz, but the six-time major champion never stopped fighting, and knew in the back of his head that he has a near-flawless five-set record to fall back on.

After threatening the Zverev serve in multiple games, he finally broke back as the German was serving for the victory at 5-4.

Alcaraz never looked back as he wrapped up the win two games later to reach his first Australian Open final and improve his five-set record to a remarkable 15-1.

The 22-year-old survived 17 aces off the Zverev racquet, and fired 12 of his own, as part of 78 winners he tallied throughout the match.

He is now one victory away from becoming the youngest man in history to complete the career Grand Slam.

“I just hate giving up. Just how I could feel after all, you know, I just don't want to feel that way,” Alcaraz said in his press conference about why he never considered retiring during the semi-final, despite being physically impaired.

Zverev: ‘I was hanging on for dear life’

On his part, Zverev tried to keep a positive perspective after coming excruciatingly close to making a fourth major final.

“Unbelievable fight, battle. Unfortunate ending for me, but to be honest, I had absolutely nothing left in me,” said Zverev, who was a finalist in Melbourne last year. “Even at 5-4, normally I can rely on my serve a bit more. My legs stopped pushing upward, so yeah, that's the way it is. This is life. We move on.”

Asked if he had any regrets over the match, Zverev said: “The second set. That one, for me, I felt like I should have won. Especially serving for it, I didn't play a good game serving for it. Funny enough, I don't have many regrets in the fifth set, because I was hanging on for dear life, to be honest. I was exhausted.”

Novak the Incredible

Djokovic produced a vintage performance against two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner, snapping a five-match losing streak to the Italian with a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory in front of a roaring Rod Laver Arena on Friday night.

The 38-year-old Serb advanced to the 38th Grand Slam final of his career, and his first since Wimbledon 2024, to put himself in a position to battle for an all-time record-extending 25th major crown.

He is through to his 11th Australian Open final and is the oldest man in the Open Era to make it to the championship match at this tournament. He has never lost a major final in Melbourne.

“I’m lost for words right now to be honest,” Djokovic said on court. “Oh my God, where should I start. It feels surreal to be honest. Playing over four hours, almost 2:00am, reminiscing in 2012 when I played Rafa in the final, that was six hours almost but the level of intensity and the quality of tennis was extremely high and I knew that was the only way for me to have a chance to win tonight against him.

“He won the last five matches against me, he had my mobile number, so I had to change my number for tonight.

“But jokes aside, I told him at the net, thank for allowing me at least one in the last couple of year. I have tremendous respect for him, incredible player, he pushes you to the very limit, which is what he did tonight to me. So he deserves a great round of applause obviously for his performance.”

After splitting the opening two sets, Djokovic broke first in the decider, inching ahead 4-3, after staving off pressure on his own serve in previous games.

The Serb went down 0-40 in game eight but took five points in a row to consolidate his advantage.

The drama wasn’t over as Sinner saved two match points in game 10; but Djokovic was unbothered as he soon completed a stunning victory after four hours and nine minutes of play.  

The 38-year-old sat at his bench after the win, sorting through his emotions and taking it all in.

He had said at the US Open last year that Sinner and Alcaraz were playing at another level and it would be difficult for him to beat them over five sets at this stage of his career.

Djokovic said on Friday he knew it would be difficult but "not impossible", and that he just had to level up to match their quality.

He survived 72 winners, including 26 aces, from Sinner on Friday and saved 16/18 break points throughout the match.

Djokovic prevented a fourth consecutive Grand Slam final clash between Sinner and Alcaraz and takes a 5-4 head-to-head record lead into his Sunday showdown with Alcaraz.

“Honestly it feels like winning already tonight, winning the whole thing,” said Djokovic. “But I know I have to come back in less than a couple of days and fight the number one of the world. I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe to toe with him. That’s my desire and then let God decide the winner.”

On his part, Sinner admitted the loss "hurts" and paid tribute to Djokovic, who handed him his first Australian Open defeat since 2023.

"It was good match from both of us. Yeah, had many chances. Couldn't use them, and that's the outcome. It hurts, for sure," said the world No.2.

"I know he's won 24 Grand Slams. We know each other very well, how we play. I'm not surprised, because I feel like he's the greatest player for many, many years.

"Of course, he's playing less tournaments because of his age and everything, but we also know how important Grand Slams are for me, for him, for Carlos, and everyone.

"There is this small extra motivation, and he played great tennis. Hopefully I can see some, take it also as a lesson maybe to see what I can improve on."