Novak Djokovic has admitted he ‘never stopped doubting’ himself as he reached the Australian Open.
The Serb is into another final at Melbourne park after he came back from two sets to one to defeat Jannik Sinner in five sets.
It was a brutal five set match but Djokovic earned one of the best wins in recent times as he booked a showdown with Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
After the match Djokovic said it was his best win of the last two years and he ‘never stopped doubting’ himself, “To be honest, I wouldn’t dare to call it ever, finest ever, but definitely the finest in the last couple of years,” Djokovic said in his press conference.
“Under the circumstances and semis against, you know, Sinner, who has been playing best tennis of his life in last couple of years, particularly here, two-time defending champion, doesn’t get better than this. Honestly, when I started my preparations for the new season and kind of set the goals, you know, it’s no secret that Grand Slams are where I want to play my best tennis, but it becomes, I guess, more difficult for me to motivate myself, and I ask myself questions.
“You know, okay, what is it that I’m looking for from myself? I was imaging really playing against Jannik and Carlos at the final stages of Grand Slams this year and battling it out and really giving it all that I have.
“Well, I never stopped doubting. I never stopped believing in myself, you know. There’s a lot of people that doubt me. I see there is a lot of experts all of a sudden that wanted to retire me or have retired me many times the last couple of years. You know, I want to thank them all, because they gave me strength. They gave me motivation to prove them wrong, which I have tonight. For me, it’s not a surprise, to be honest. I know what I’m capable of.
“You know, one thing is to imagine how you want to play, and the other thing is to deliver it and execute it on the court against Sinner, that we all know is playing an extremely high level. Yeah, I mean, I’m just thrilled to be able to experience something like this tonight.”
When there’s a winner there’s also a loser and that loser was the defending champion Jannik Sinner as the Italian couldn’t quite execute his gameplan.
After the match Sinner admitted that the defeat ‘hurts’ but praised Djokovic’s level, “I mean, it was, you know, very important slam for me, of course, you know, knowing also the background. It can happen. It was good match from both of us,” Sinner explained in his press conference.
“Yeah, had many chances. Couldn’t use them, and that’s the outcome. Yeah, it hurts, for sure. I mean, I know he’s won 24 Grand Slams. You know, we know each other very well, how we play. I always said, you know, never — how you say– surprised not, because I feel like he’s the greatest player for many, many years.
“Of course, he’s playing less tournaments because of his age and everything, but we also know how important Grand Slams are for me, for him, for Carlos, and everyone. You know, there is this small extra motivation, and he played great tennis. Hopefully I can see some, take it also kind of as a lesson maybe to see what I can improve on.”
The final challenge in Djokovic’s bid for a 25th Grand Slam title is against Carlos Alcaraz, who will be looking for the career Grand Slam.
Ahead of Sunday’s contest Djokovic detailed what his preparation will look like ahead of the clash with Alcaraz, “For me, I think also obviously for Carlos because of his age and everything that he was able to achieve so far, history is on the line for both of us every time we play,” Djokovic stated.
“The finals of Grand Slam, you know, there’s a lot at stake, but it’s no different from, you know, any other big match that I play. My preparation is as it should be, and I won against him last year here, you know, also in a grueling match. Let’s see. Let’s see how fresh are we both able to be. He also had a big match, but he has 15, 16 years on me. You know, biologically I think it’s going to be a bit easier for him to recover.
“But, yeah, I look forward to it. Look, I play tennis competitively mainly to be able to reach the finals of Grand Slams. Here I am, so I cannot complain about anything. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment that I’m experiencing tonight. I’ll think about finals later, but for me, this is win that almost equals winning a Grand Slam.”
Heading into Sunday’s showdown Djokovic leads the head-to-head 5-4 and won their contest at last year’s Australian Open in the quarter-final stage.
