Novak Djokovic overcomes an injury to beat Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open.
The Serbian produced a vintage performance to outlast the young Spaniard to reach the semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the 12th time.
The 37-year-old looked to be in a perilous situation when he appeared to sustain a leg injury in the latter stages of the first set.
But after taking a medical timeout to address the problem, Novak Djokovic slowly began to rediscover his moment and find his range, before going on to claim a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win.
Novak Djokovic explains how he beat Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open
Djokovic appeared to be experiencing some discomfort in his leg during his Australian Open quarter-finals against Carlos Alcaraz.
This seemed to limit his movement in the first set, which Alcaraz won, and in the early parts of the second set.
But Djokovic came out swinging after his medical timeout and changed his game by playing more aggressive tennis and being on the front foot earlier in rallies.
It was a tactic that paid off as Djokovic claimed a four set win, and he was honest about his change of approach. “I didn’t want to stay in rallies too long,” he said.
“I saw he was checking my side of the court more than his side in the second set,” Djokovic said. “He was looking at how I was moving, playing quite a few drop shots and stretching me, but I tried to protect my position on the court and just go for my shots. It paid off!
“I played a great game at 5-4 second set and it’s easier from that end, because you have the wind at your back so it helps to go through the ball a bit more and slows down the serve of your opponent.”
Novak Djokovic beats Carlos Alcaraz for the fifth time to reach Australian Open quarter-finals
Djokovic began to change the momentum of the match following a superb return game at the end of the second set to clinch it 6-4.
For all Alcaraz’s qualities he simply had no answer for Djokovic’s added aggression and his improved movement, and went on to lose to the 24-time Grand Slam champion for the second successive time.
Post-match Djokovic, who will play Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, did not want to tell Jim Courier too much about his injury prognosis, but he explained what he noticed about Alcaraz that gave him the impetus to go and take control of the match.
“As I am still in the tournament I do not want to reveal too much obviously,” he said. “But the medication started to kick in and they helped, no doubt. I had to take another dose.
“If I had lost the second set I don’t know if I would have continued playing but I felt better and better and managed to play a great couple of games to end the second set.
“Then I saw Carlos was hesitant a little bit from the back of the court, I took my chances and then started to feel and move better.
“It didn’t bother me or create any hindrance towards the end of the match, only in that second set. When the medications I will see what the reality is tomorrow morning.”
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