The biggest takeaway for Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz from their blockbuster Australian Open battle

Carlos Alcaraz had just lost the third set against Novak Djokovic, and as he was walking to his bench, he started to gesture as if he were injured. He continued to do that while sitting down as he held his right leg, making painful expressions. For a moment, it seemed like he was cramping, but then it became apparent that he was mocking Djokovic, as he laughed to his bench straight after sitting down.

It was possibly the worst on-court behavior displayed by Alcaraz ever. He’s had some moments where he threw or smashed the racket (Cincinnati, 2024), but he’s never outright mocked an injured opponent before.

Emotions were running high as he had just lost two very crucial games. The first one was at 4-3 for Djokovic as he got broken on his serve. It was a perfectly played game from Djokovic who basically dismantled Alcaraz’s serve. Then at 5-3 for Djokovic, Alcaraz jumped out to a 30-0 lead but once again couldn’t finish as Djokovic hit two winners, the second of which was a risky second serve.

That moment demonstrated how fearless Djokovic was as he was the underdog, which possibly relieved a lot of pressure on him. As for Alcaraz, he lamented about the match during his press conference, noting that he should have “finished off” Djokovic instead of getting distracted by his injury. The interesting thing is that it wasn’t the first time.

The 2023 Cincinnati Masters had Carlos Alcaraz face Novak Djokovic in the final. The Spaniard was up a set and a break while Djokovic was visibly struggling with the enormous heat that day, and yet Djokovic turned around the match as Alcaraz didn’t finish things off when he could have.

The lack of experience really showed in Australia. After losing that third set and resorting to mocking, Alcaraz didn’t take a timeout to calm down. He went straight to play the fourth set, where he would get immediately broken, a break Djokovic held until the end of the match.

Novak Djokovic’s injury changed everything for Carlos Alcaraz

Believe it or not, the injury turned out to be the key to Djokovic winning the match. It basically flipped the entire psychology of the match as Djokovic quickly understood that he had nothing to lose and started playing with a lot of risk, which worked out for him. The injury happened in the first set when it was 4-4 and before Alcaraz won the first set 6-4. There was no other alternative for Djokovic than to go all out.

Another thing it did for him was simplifying the game plan. When you face somebody like Alcaraz, you have a very specific plan of what you want to do. That’s great when you’re healthy, but once Djokovic got injured, his plan became rather simple—shorten the rallies, be aggressive, and he didn’t waste time implementing it. Playing longer rallies was a no-go for the Serb.

Djokovic mixed it up a lot, changing what he usually does to keep Alcaraz guessing. The increase in power was also evident. His forehand speed in the second set jumped up to 139 km/h while it was only 120 km/h in the opening set. All of this also messed with Alcaraz mentally. He started to complicate things and made more mistakes. As Djokovic’s plan got simpler, Alcaraz’s plan seemingly got more complex, and it wasn’t working. Doubt started to creep in, and sooner or later, Djokovic was all over the Spaniard.

As the painkillers kicked in for Djokovic, he started to move even better. Now it was a proper match, and Alcaraz couldn’t find a solution. Djokovic dismantled the serve of Alcaraz in the third set. Alcaraz won only 52% of his first serve points in that set, a pretty poor mark for a quick court like the Australian Open. And the kicker is, he served the highest percentage in that set (77%).

Alcaraz still has a lot to learn

What made Jannik Sinner so much better in the past year and more than before was his improvement on the serve. The first serve became a consistent weapon while the second serve improved to a level where it was no longer a liability. That has to happen for Alcaraz as well because he lost the match largely because of his second serve.

Djokovic won 58% of points on the Spaniard’s second serve. That’s a glaring issue, and he needs to improve on that. He also needs to work on his patience because at times, he doesn’t have it. He won only 33% of second serves of Djokovic, which could be higher because Djokovic doesn’t have a powerful serve. He needs to become better at choosing his spots, especially when he loses control of the match like he did in this one.

Then again, this isn’t really new. Decision-making was always an issue for Alcaraz, especially when there is a lot of pressure on him. The 2024 Paris Olympics showed that as well. There is simply elevated anxiety when Alcaraz faces Djokovic, and multiple matches showed that.

Alcaraz mocking Djokovic the way he did certainly is out of character, but it was a boiling point for him due to the frustration he felt. So there is a lot more for Alcaraz to learn, whether it be managing his emotions or simply improving his decision-making. After all, he’s only 21 years old, and everything he’s achieved so far is just a testament to how good he is. But he can become much better, and time will tell whether he will.