We now know the men’s finalists of the 2026 Australian Open and there is great excitement in store. Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the 24-time grand slam men’s singles tennis champion, will be facing Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, the six-time grand slam champion.
What we saw on Friday at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, were two epic men’s semifinal matches. Djokovic and Alcaraz won their respective matches in five sets.
Alcaraz, the world number one, defeated Alexander Zverev of Germany, the world number three, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5. The match took a twist in the third set after Alcaraz took a commanding two sets to none lead. Alcaraz was struggling physically and appeared to be cramping. Under tennis rules, players cannot call for a medical timeout when they experience cramping, and Zverev was extremely annoyed with the chair umpire for allowing Alcaraz medical attention. Chair umpire Marina Veljovic was unsure if Alcaraz was experiencing cramping or if it was another injury. Either way, the pickle juice Alcaraz consumed regained his energy, and won the match in five hours and 27 minutes.
Djokovic, the fourth seed, beat Sinner, the second seed, in a scoreline of 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. At 38 years of age, Djokovic is the oldest grand slam men’s finalist in the history of the Open Era of the Australian Open.
This will be the 10th time Djokovic and Alcaraz will have played against each other. Djokovic has won five of nine meetings. In the last four years, Alcaraz has beaten Djokovic in two Wimbledon finals. The first came in 2023 (1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4) and the second came in 2024 (6-2, 6-2, 7-6).
