Neither of the men's semifinal matches at the 2026 Australian Open went as expected, but then, both did. Like any tournament that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz enter together, the presumption is that the two will end up in the final together. Who wins is unknown, though Alcaraz has gotten the better of Sinner more often recently.
After Alcaraz outlasted Alexander Zverev in five sets in the first semifinal, all Sinner needed to do was defeat Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, including 10 in Melbourne. The attempt was even more difficult than Alcaraz defeating Zverev.
Both the Italian and the Serb were serving at a high level. Both are fantastic returners and can usually limit the damage done even by a big server. Not in this match, though. Sinner had nearly 30 aces, and whenever Djokovic needed to get out of trouble, a great serve helped.
Novak Djokovic will play Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final
Neither player was going to lose the match, but instead, the one who moved on to the final would have deserved to win it. Both seemed fresh even late in the fifth set; the heat in Melbourne wasn't an issue, and some recently easier matches (or retirements) were helping the players still have speed and quickness nearly two weeks into the major.
This may have helped Djokovic, the 38-year-old all-time great, even more. After dropping the first set 3-6, he took the second by the same score. The Italian then took set three 6-4 before the Serb won the fourth by the same score.
In the deciding set, Novak Djokovic got an early break and simply needed to hold serve. Twice, though, Sinner got to break points, including forcing Djokovic to serve at 0-40 in the eighth game of the set. Three chances to even the match, but he couldn't do it. Djokovic stole the game, and then after a Sinner hold, the Serb simply needed to do the same to reach the final.
He had a chance with an advantage after Sinner weakly returned a serve, but the Serb could not point away. He didn't miss his next opportunity and took the final set 6-4.
In his post-match on-court interview, Djokovic admitted he had no words for what had just happened. He even thanked Sinner for finally allowing him to win again before giving Sinner his deserved respect by praising him. He then thanked the fans, who seemed fully behind him at the end. Novak Djokovic will need them to be behind him again in Sunday's final against Carlos Alcaraz.