ALCARAZ - DJOKOVIC The players entered the court! Full to the brim at Rod Laver Arena to watch the grand final, the most anticipated match.It's only 15 degrees and there's a threat of rain. For now, the match will start with the roof closed "I'm really looking forward to it. I'm playing tennis so I can reach the Grand Slam final," said the Serbian who hopes to end his run in Melbourne. “I know how to perform in important Grand Slam matches where I may not be at the perfect level, but I find a way to beat my rival, even if my tennis quality is not close to where I would like it to be”, highlighted the Serb before the final. “I'm not surprised by what I'm doing in Melbourne, I know what I'm capable of because I've done it many times in my career,” warned the Serb. The Serbian rehabilitated expectations by beating the San Candido player, with whom he had lost in the last five direct clashes. "Biologically it will be easier for you to recover"Djokovic spoke about his effort in relation to that suffered by Alcaraz in the game with Alexander Zverev. "My preparation is adequate and I also beat him last year here. In another long game. Let's see how we both get there." Djokovic beat Spaniard Pedro Martínez in the first round and then Italian Francesco Mestrelli. He beat them both in three rounds, as well as Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp in the third round. Then came Mensik and Musetti until the semifinal against Sinner, which required five sets and more than four hours. The Serbian has been less demanding throughout this edition of the first Grand Slam of the season due to the absence of the Czech Jakub Mensik in the round of 16, due to an abdominal injury, and with that necessary fortune that accompanied him in the quarterfinals when he was two sets down against the Italian Lorenzo Musettiwho left the game and delivered the victory due to injury Novak Djokovic is now one step away from becoming the oldest winner in the tournament's history. He has already won ten in Melbourne and hopes to become the most successful tennis player, male or female, in this sport. The 38-year-old from Belgrade aims to end the recent Grand Slam curse from more than two seasons agosince winning his twenty-fourth crown at the 2023 US Open. Although he was later an Olympic champion, he has had no success on the circuit since that time in New York. Last year, 2025, he was a semi-finalist in all of them. But he didn't give anymore Djokovic confronted all the “experts” who declared him finished and, with a great victory over Jannik Sinner, in five sets and after four hours and ten minutes, he returned a year later, from the 2024 Wimbledon final that he lost to Alcaraz, to the final of a major Only against the German did he leave two sets on his journey through the draw, in which he needed more than 16 and a half hours on the court; more than three hours than its rival today Alcaraz had to beat Australian Adam Walton in the first round and then German Yannick Hanfmann; then Frenchman Corentin Moutet and American Tommy Paul in the round of 16. Local Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals and Zverev in the semi-finals. "I'm very happy to play my first final in Melbourne. It was something I really wanted." he pointed “This situation reminds me a lot of what Rafa did in 2009, when he had that incredible match with Verdasco and everyone doubted he would be able to play in the final, and he ended up beating Federer in five sets. The adrenaline generated will carry me away if I manage to do things well in the next few hours.", argued Carlos after beating Zverev and reaching the final of the Australian Open for the first time, which, among other things, has a prize of 4,150,000 dollars at stake. Furthermore, the confrontation with the Balkans is adverse. They played nine times and Djokovic won fiveincluding Melbourne in 2025 and the Roland Garros semi-final in 2023. But Alcaraz has also enjoyed his big moments against the winner of twenty-four majors, such as the Wimbledon finals in 2023 and 2024 and the US Open semi-final last year, the last time the two met. Afterwards, the Murcian won in three sets (6-4, 7-6(4) and 6-2) Mainly in the Murcian's memory is the Olympic final, in Paris 2024, when he was aiming for the gold medal that the Serb won, and the quarter-final duel of this same tournament, at last year's Australian Open, when a match that he had more than on the track escaped him. The Murcian, who will leave Melbourne no matter what happens, consolidated himself in first place and with a greater advantage over Sinner, who lost points after losing in the semi-finals, He has in front of him the most successful player in history and with whom he has played nine times, some of the most special, with painful results The Murcian and the Italian, who monopolized the last three grand finals of 2025 – Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open – have shared the last eight Grand Slam trophies. Four for the Italians and as many for the Spanish between 2024 and 2025. 2026 started differently, with Djokovic as an intruder. The Balkan, who refuses to say goodbye professionally, intends to win a title again. He hasn't done so since the US Open final in 2023. Afterwards, successes were a matter of two The Serbian took part in the new tennis classic, the duels between Sinner and Alcaraz in the fight for big titles. In fact, it could also interfere with their historical dominance if it manages to win today. Alcaraz clings to fate and, after beating Alexander Zverev in a game he clearly won and then almost lost, in the longest semi-final in the tournament's history, now he meets Djokovic, the best player in historyvoracious, tireless and incombustible Whatever happens, and whoever wins, the final between the world number one and the ten-time champion in Melbourne will be part of tennis history. Legendary challenges gather at Rod Laver Arena. That of the Spaniard, who intends to win the Australian Open for the first time and complete his crop of major tournaments and become the youngest person to win the Grand Slam; and that of the Serbian, determined, at over 38 years old, to achieve 25 'majors'more than anyone else, and thus increase his advantage over Rafael Nadal, with 22, and Roger Federer, with 20, in the men's category and surpass the legendary Margaret Court in the absolute ranking, with whom he maintains equality Good morning! We start live from the Australian Open grand final that faces Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic Carlos Alcaraz began a new era in his career. In addition to strengthening aspects of your game, especially your serve, He is without Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been his coach for seven years. He is under the command of Samuel López, who played as second although he has accompanied him to tournaments with some frequency in the past. gg.didomi.doWhenConsent(!window.didomiBypass, 'c:facebooka-frU9M5JY', function () { console.log('facebook-ad-def'); !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '682047071976590'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); });