Novak Djokovic: ‘I want to thank all the doubters’ | ATP tour | Tennis

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Djokovic: ‘I want to thank all the doubters’

Serbian snaps five-match losing streak to Sinner and moves into Australian Open final against Alcaraz
January 30, 2026

Discounting Novak Djokovic is at your own risk.

Just as Jannik Sinner was about to book a fourth consecutive Grand Slam final with Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open, the ageless Serbian staged a comeback for the ages and earned the chance to play for a 25th Grand Slam crown.

“I never stopped believing in myself,” said the 10-time Australian Open champion, who plays Carlos Alcaraz in the final at Melbourne Park on Sunday. “There are many people who doubt me. Many experts wanted me to retire or have retired me many times in recent years.

“I want to thank them all because they gave me strength. They gave me the motivation to prove them wrong, and I got that tonight. It’s not a surprise to me, to be honest.”

Djokovic rallied from two sets to one to snap a five-match losing streak against two-time defending champion Sinner. He won 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the four-hour, nine-minute thriller that ended at 1:30 am.

Djokovic, who said he would not train on Saturday, made the most of his luck by reaching the semi-finals. In the fourth round he received a walkover from his Miami Open final conqueror Jakub Mensik; in the quarter-finals he trailed Lorenzo Musetti by two sets before the Italian retired with a right leg injury.

But against Sinner, an opponent fourteen years his junior, Djokovic’s resilience, conviction and courage underpinned his deserved victory, in which he saved sixteen of eighteen break points, including all eight in the final set.

“I rate it as the best [win] of the last few years,” said Djokovic. “Definitely one of the best performances of the last ten years…

“I was fortunate that Lorenzo obviously got injured and quit that match. Two days later, obviously a different opponent. I knew exactly what to expect and had great clarity, strategy and game plan and what needed to be executed.”

“One thing is to imagine how you want to play, and the other is to execute it and execute it on the pitch against Sinner, who we all know plays at an extremely high level.

“I’m thrilled that I get to experience something like this tonight.”

The win was Djokovic’s first five-set match since Roland Garros in 2024, when he outlasted Francisco Cerundolo.

Djokovic has not lifted a major trophy since the 2023 US Open and watched Alcaraz and Sinner split the eight majors over the past two years.

On Sunday, as Djokovic attempts to become the oldest Australian Open champion, 22-year-old Alcaraz aims to become the youngest men’s player to complete a Grand Slam career.

Djokovic leads Alcaraz 5-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, winning three of their four hard-court encounters. But as Alcaraz broke through for his only hard-court victory in the semifinals of the 2025 US Open, Djokovic candidly expressed doubts about his ability to topple the Spaniard and Sinner over five sets at the majors. He now gets the chance to prove him wrong in back-to-back matches in what would be one of the most remarkable performances of his unparalleled career.

“Every time we play, history is at stake for both of us,” said Djokovic, who spent a record 424 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP rankings during his career… My preparation is as it should be, and I beat him here last year [in the quarter-finals]also in a grueling match. Let’s see. Let’s see how fresh we both can be.

“He also had a big game, but he still has fifteen, sixteen years to wait for me. You know, biologically speaking, I think it will be a little easier for him to recover.”

“I’m just trying to enjoy the moment I’m experiencing tonight. I’ll think about the finals later, but for me this is a victory that is almost equivalent to winning a Grand Slam.”