Novak Djokovic rolled back the years at the Australian Open to send Carlos Alcaraz packing and reach the semi-finals in Melbourne for the 12th time during an illustrious career.
Djokovic had a number of factors to deal with in The Rod Laver Arena. Alcaraz played some good tennis in the first set and it appeared for much of it as though the 10-time winner was struggling with a leg injury.
John McEnroe felt that Djokovic was milking things. However, it appeared genuine and it remains to be seen what state he will be in when facing Alexander Zverev in the last four on Friday.
It was a superb match between two of the game’s best player right now. It went on until 1am in the morning and it will now be fascinating to see how Djokovic is feeling when the dust settles on this one.
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Tim Henman disagrees with John McEnroe after Novak Djokovic beats Carlos Alcaraz
The former Great Britain number one and four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist thinks McEnroe is talking rubbish. Henman commentated on the game and could sense Djokovic was genuinely injured.
He was left stunned by the outcome of the match. Henman felt there was only one winner after the first set with Djokovic quite visibly struggling to hide the agony his body was going through.
He said on Eurosport: “Djokovic was injured. You could see him wincing and making certain movements and looking sore out on the court. At this stage, 5-4 first serve. It’s not an ideal time for someone to leave the court when the opponent is serving for the first set but Djokovic goes off the court to get the medical treatment and obviously gets the top of his leg taped up for support. At this stage I think there is one winner, I don’t see how Djokovic, given their game styles where it’s so physically demanding to go toe to toe with Alcaraz, you’re thinking I can’t see this from Djokovic’s point of view.
“But the early part of the second set he obviously took some painkillers and anti-inflammatories and then he just hung in there. At the end of the second set he played a couple of really aggressive service games and then he was back on level terms.”
All eyes will now be on Djokovic ahead of semi-final clash
Although Zverev has played well at this tournament so far, he will have a lot of work to do if he’s to overcome Djokovic in the last four.
This is the slam where Djokovic has been the most successful and it does feel as though The Rod Laver Arena is basically his home when it comes to his profession.
The one hope that Zverev has is this injury problem. Once the adrenaline wears off, Djokovic will be able to see what the damage is and he will hope that it’s not too problematic to stop him from playing.
Last year, Djokovic almost won Wimbledon just weeks after a knee ligament operation. He then went and won the Olympics just weeks after reaching the SW19 final.
Regardless of the shape that Djokovic is in going into his clash with Zverev this could be yet another tournament where the 24-time Grand Slam winner simply proves unstoppable in his quest for glory.
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