By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Novak Djokovic beat young rival Carlos Alcaraz 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in a gladiatorial battle worthy of a title clash to charge into the Australian Open semi-finals on Tuesday and remain in the hunt for a record 25th Grand Slam title.
In the latest chapter of a generational rivalry that has played out on the biggest stages, including last year’s Olympic final in Paris which Djokovic won, it was the 37-year-old who maintained his hardcourt dominance over Alcaraz.
Defeat was a blow for the 21-year-old Spaniard as the French Open and Wimbledon champion’s bid to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam went up in flames, and he was left to digest his third loss to Djokovic on the surface.
“I wish this match today was the final,” said Djokovic, who next takes on German second seed Alexander Zverev in what would be a men’s record 50th major singles semi-final for the Serb.
“It’s just one of the most epic matches that I’ve played on this court, on any court, really. So thank you all for staying at 1 a.m. to watch us and support the players.”
Some loose shots at the start of the match put Alcaraz on the back foot but he fired a magnificent backhand winner to pull back a break and was rock solid from there, vaulting to a 5-4 lead in a physical opening set after Djokovic made an error.
Having dropped his serve for a second time, Djokovic took an off-court medical timeout and returned with his left thigh taped up, but the seventh-seeded Serb could not prevent Alcaraz from holding to love with a big ace at the end to clinch the set.
“Since I’m still in the tournament, I don’t want to reveal too much, obviously,” Djokovic said.
“The medication started to kick in, and they helped. No doubt, I had to take another dose. I mean, this sounds awful. Me taking another dose. If I lost that second set, I don’t know if I would continue playing, but I felt better and better.”
AGGRESSIVE DJOKOVIC
Djokovic was far more aggressive in the second set and made several forays towards the net to reel off the first three games before producing a spectacular backhand overhead smash assisted by the net cord at one point, but Alcaraz pulled level at 3-3.
The momentum shifted again as Djokovic heaped the pressure on the third-seeded Spaniard with heavy ball-striking to claim the second set and drew massive cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd when he broke for a 4-2 and then 5-3 lead in the third.
Playing like a much younger version of himself, 10-times Melbourne Park champion Djokovic showed surgical precision to claim the set before breaking early in the next one to tighten his grip on the match.
Alcaraz won an incredible 33-shot rally to rescue a break point while down 4-2 in the fourth set and smiled as he gasped for air but Djokovic used all his experience to seal the win in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“God knows when we’re going to go to sleep,” said Djokovic.
“I guess the key is recovery for me. To be honest, that’s all I’m thinking about. The extra day with no match comes at the perfect time for me.
“Let’s see if it’s going to be good enough on Friday, hopefully I can come out and feel my best because Sasha (Zverev) is playing some of the best tennis he has played.
“We have an agreement, as long as I play he’s going to let me win Grand Slam matches,” Djokovic said with a smile.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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