Novak Djokovic reveals how injury changed his approach in Carlos Alcaraz win at Australian Open

Noval Djokovic completed a stunning victory over Spanish young gun Carlos Alcaraz to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open for a record twelfth time. He did so despite suffering a groin injury in the first set that threatened to derail his hopes of finishing the match, let alone progressing in the tournament.

At 4-4 in the opening set, Djokovic pulled up limping after one particularly long rally and was forced to concede the break to a rampant Alcaraz, after which he called for a medical timeout. He was escorted off the court and returned a few minutes later with his thigh bandaged, but was clearly impeded and Alcaraz served out the set comfortably.

Djokovic limped through the start of the second set grimacing after every point and appearing to be in excruciating pain whenever Alcaraz extended him, but still managed to thread enough points together to stay in the match. In fact, as the set wore on, Djokovic's superior depth of shot and accuracy had the young Spaniard reeling, giving Djokovic the set 6-4.

From the beginning of the third set, Djokovic's injury had eased, and he was always a step ahead of Alcaraz. Djokovic took the final two sets 6-3, 6-4 to book his place in the semifinals. Talking to Jim Courier after the match, the Serb felt the injury forced him to refocus and pay closer attention to hitting the ball cleanly (4:41 onwards):

"It was unfortunate what happened towards the end of the set for me, but, in that perspective, the way you explain it, I think comparing to the 2023 performances I had, I think it does help mentally because you know, you just all of a sudden start to play a bit more aggressive. You go through your shots more."

For his part, Alcaraz played some exceptional tennis in the match, but he and his coaching team will rue the opportunity presented in that first set to capitalize on Djokovic's difficulties. The ATP's World No. 3 simply didn't play with enough variety or guile and didn't move a visibly stricken Djokovic around the court enough.

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Djokovic's remarkable comeback was fueled by the injury

2025 Australian Open - Day 9 - Source: Getty

It was a remarkable performance by Djokovic, who shows no sign of giving up his throne to the crop of new players coming through to challenge him. He may have dropped to the ATP's World No. 7, but his ability to manage the mental challenge in the heat of battle suggests he still has much to offer. He said as much to Courier (4:17 onwards):

"You're going through emotional turmoil, up and down, you know... any point can really shift the momentum to the other side, particularly when you play on such a high level against a champion like Carlos."

Djokovic moves on to a semifinal against good friend and No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, who's looked impressive in reaching his third Melbourne semifinal. If Djokovic is able to stay healthy and perform to the level he managed against Alcaraz, he'll be favored to reach yet another Australian Open final.