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Preamble
G’day all and with Alexander Zverev taking Carlos Alcaraz to a fifth set, I’m getting ready to bring you coverage of the second semi-final between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic bristled at what seemed to be a reasonable question after his quarter-final, when he was asked what it’s like to be chasing Sinner and Alcaraz at the end of his career having also chased Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the beginning.
“I’m always the chaser and never being chased? I find it a bit disrespectful you miss out on what happened in between,” the 38-year-old said. “There’s about a 15-year period where I was dominating the grand slams. I don’t feel like I’m chasing, to be honest.”
Perhaps he did simply want more recognition of his achievements. Though perhaps his response betrayed a sense of frustration at what he’s up against in this match against Sinner, the two-time defending champion. And perhaps he was also raging against the passing of time, because how he must wish he could go back to his days of dominance to secure that elusive, record-breaking grand slam title No 25 rather than having two young upstarts ahead of him who are taking men’s tennis to stratospheric levels that didn’t seem possible when the Big Three dissipated. The Big Two are a constant reminder to Djokovic of the time he doesn’t have left in tennis.
The story is well-told: Djokovic, the 10-time Australian Open champion, has been stuck on 24 since the 2023 US Open, with Alcaraz and Sinner carving up the past eight major titles between them and the Serb being reduced to the status of the third-best player at the biggest tournaments. Last year Djokovic reached all four slam semi-finals – but he hit a Sincaraz wall in three of them and retired hurt against Zverev in Melbourne.
This year he looks more vulnerable, having reached the semis only because Lorenzo Musetti quit injured when Djokovic was two sets down in their quarter-final, and he also benefitted from a walkover in the last 16. He’s playing with a second life today, and he knows it.
Whether this means he’ll be fresh or undercooked, we’ll have to see. We do know he’s been dealing with a painful blister on his foot, which doesn’t augur well given he needs every bit of movement against Sinner, who does everything that Djokovic does so well but is 14 years younger. With all Sinner’s relentless running and consistency from the baseline, he’s basically Italy’s Gen Z version of Serbia’s classic cyborg.
The players will be on court: as soon as Alcaraz v Zverev finishes. You’re welcome to join Joey in the meantime. I won’t be offended.
