Novak Djokovic seemingly hit back at his critics on Friday, with a subtle message in the aftermath of his Australian Open win against Jannik Sinner.
Djokovic twice fought from a set down to overcome Sinner in a five-set thriller in Melbourne, knocking out the 2024 and 2025 champion in just over four hours. With that, Djokovic reached Sunday’s final, where Carlos Alcaraz awaits.
World No 1 Alcaraz will bid to become the youngest male player to win the career grand slam, at the age of just 22, while Djokovic is also seeking history.
The Serb, 38, is eyeing a 25th slam title, which would make him the most-successful player in the history of men’s and women’s tennis. A victory over Alcaraz would also extend Djokovic’s record number of Australian Open singles titles, which currently stands at 10.
In the moments after his win against Sinner, 24, Djokovic wrote on a camera lens on Rod Laver arena – a customary move for most players at most tournaments. However, while most players sign their names, Djokovic took the opportunity to send a message.
“Nesto ste rekli?” he wrote in Serbian, which translates to: “Did you say something?”
The message has been interpreted as a response to his Djokovic’s critics, whom he later addressed during a post-match press conference.
“I never stopped believing in myself, you know,” said Djokovic. “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.
“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.
“So, I’ve had many, many times in my career matches during a grand slam where it’s just one of those days where you’re not feeling your best. You try to find a way to win with everything that you possibly have, even though the quality of tennis is not even close to where you want it to be. So that was the case, you know?”
Djokovic specifically addressed the fact that he had significantly raised his level on Friday, having survived a major scare in his quarter-final with Lorenzo Musetti.
Djokovic trailed Musetti by two sets to love on Wednesday when the Italian withdrew due to injury, with Djokovic up a break in the third set.
“Again, I was lucky that obviously Lorenzo got hurt and retired that match,” Djokovic said on Friday. “Two days later, obviously different opponent. I knew exactly what’s expected of me on the court, and I came out with the right, great clarity and strategy and gameplan and what needs to be executed.
“Obviously easier said than done. 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, [who] we all know is playing an extremely high level. I mean, I’m just thrilled to be able to experience something like this tonight.”
Djokovic is 0-2 against Alcaraz in grand-slam finals, having suffered defeats by the Spaniard at Wimbledon in 2023 and 2024. However, Djokovic beat Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of last year’s Australian Open, and the Serb has never lost a final at the tournament.
Djokovic’s semi-final win on Friday followed Alcaraz’s own, in which the world No 1 blew a two-set lead but overcame Alex Zverev in five sets – and five-and-a-half hours.
