Novak Djokovic did not appear on the grounds of Melbourne Park after reaching the Australian Open final.
Djokovic beat Jannik Sinner for the first time in over two years to reach his first Grand Slam final since Wimbledon in 2024.
This enabled the Serbian to make history, as Djokovic broke one of Rafael Nadal’s records.
As a result, it has now set up an Australian Open final between Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, but concern is now growing after a report has now come out about the 38-year-old.
Tim Henman reveals what time Novak Djokovic went to sleep after beating Jannik Sinner
Djokovic’s four-hour and nine-minute semifinal match against Sinner did not finish until after 1:30am in Melbourne.
Where does that performance rank out of Novak Djokovic’s best of all time?
After the match Djokovic still had to do his warm down exercises and general post-match practices, which includes speaking to the media.
When previewing the men’s singles final on TNT Sports, former tennis players Laura Robson, CoCo Vandeweghe and Tim Henman revealed that neither Djokovic nor Alcaraz, who beat Alexander Zverev in five sets, came on site after their marathon semifinal matches.
Henman also reported that he had spoken to a member of Djokovic’s team who had told him that the Serbian did not get to bed until 6am.
Robson: “I don’t think either of them came on site today.”
Vandeweghe: “No, I didn’t. I don’t think they need to.”
Henman: “I spoke to Charlie [Djokovic’s hitting partner Carlos Gómez-Herrera] on his team and he said they got back and once they had done everything they were in bed at 6am.
“I don’t necessarily think they need to hit tennis balls. They have hit enough. It’s all about rest and recovery and obviously it’s a later start, so they have plenty of time.”
Who will win the Australian Open men’s singles final?
How long has Novak Djokovic spent on court compared to Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open?
Although he had to finish his semifinal match in the early hours of Saturday morning, Djokovic may actually have an advantage against Alcaraz.
Prior to his semifinal match against Sinner, Djokovic had only played two sets from his past two rounds after Lorenzo Musetti retired due to injury and Jakub Mensik withdrew before they even took to court.
As a result, this has enabled Djokovic to spend less than four hours on court at the Australian Open this year compared to Alcaraz.
| Time spent on court at the 2026 Australian Open | |
| Novak Djokovic | 13 hours 16 minutes |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 17 hours 21 minutes |
This could be significant due to the 16-year age gap between the two players, as Djokovic looks to capture his 25th major title.
Djokovic also has a narrow lead in his head-to-head against Alcaraz, having won five of their nine previous meetings.
The men’s singles final at the Australian Open will take place on Sunday, February 1, at 7:30pm local time in Melbourne.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
