Djokovic 'lost for words' following five-set upset

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Day 13 has seen both men's semi-finals take centre stage at Melbourne Park, with both going the distance.

In what is the third-longest match in the Australian Open's history (five hours and 27 minutes), Carlos Alcaraz has made his first Australian Open final after defeating Alexander Zverev in five sets after having won the first two.

Following them on Rod Laver Arena, it was a rematch of the 2024 AO semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.

But unlike that match-up, Djokovic got his revenge, having won in five sets against the Italian to set up the third major final between himself and the world No.1 in Alcaraz.

Elsewhere, the Australian mixed doubles pair of John Peers and Olivia Gadecki got the job in the final to have now won back-to-back AO finals together.

See all the big moments below.

1:52am Djokovic: (This win) feels surreal

Novak Djokovic has spoken with Jim Courier after his match with the 24-time major winner admitting that he was glad to break a four-match losing streak against the Italian.

“I’m lost for words right now to be honest,” he said post-match.

“It feels surreal…playing until 2am, reminiscing about 2012 when I played Rafa in the final. That was six hours almost.

“But the level of intensity and I guess the quality of tennis was extremely high, and I knew that was the only way for me to have a chance to win tonight against him.

“He won the last (four) matches against me. He had my mobile number (smiles), so I had to change my number for tonight.

“All jokes aside, I told him at the net, ‘Thanks for allowing me at least one (win) in the last couple of years (smiles).”

1:36am Djoker clinchs yet another AO final spot

And the Sincaraz slam final streak has been broken.

After three consecutive Grand Slam finals between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic has beaten Jannik Sinner to make his 11th Australian Open final.

The Serbian makes it 41 wins from 52 matches when it goes to five sets, having won 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The No. 2 seed should have won this, considering he had 18 BREAK POINT CHANCES compared to Djokovic's eight.

Yet the 24-time Grand Slam champion was able to make the most of them, having converted three of them to Sinner's two.

Djokovic is in disbelief as he makes his way to his 11th Australian Open final and says exactly that.

Djokovic: "I'm lost for words...It feels surreal."

And he'll be feeling confident having never lost an AO Final in his career. Will this change in 2026?

1:25am Sinner falters yet again

This is going to be a tough pill to swallow for Jannik Sinner today.

He's given himself every chance of winning. And he had his best opportunity to break by having not one, not two BUT three break points to tie on 4-4.

But the execution has just not been there particularly, and yet again, he has allowed Novak Djokovic back into the game to go 5-3.

He's sitting at a conversation rate of 11% (two from 18) for break points compared to Djokovic's 38% (three from eight).

Sinner holds to make it 5-4. But he needs to pull out his best tennis to break Novak and keep the match alive.

1:14am Djokovic in the box seat

You can never count out a champion, and Novak Djokovic is showing us why.

Sinner had five break points before this (for the set) and was unable to convert any of them.

But Djokovic only needed one, with Sinner once again hitting a forehand out, which has given the all-important point. The Serbian is up 4-3.

And for the first time in this match, the AO win predictor has Djokovic as the favourite.

Is an 11th Australian Open final on the cards?

1:01am Djoker still has a pulse

How has he done that?

Novak Djokovic has defended like his life depended on it to remain on serve in the fifth set.

After a couple of unforced errors and a poorly timed double fault, Sinner hadtwo break points at 15-40, which, if converted, would have given him a 3-1 lead.

And with that, it saw the AO's win chance percentage swing towards the Italian heavily.

But the Djoker finds a way, having benefited from the No. 2 seed not capitalising with some errors and shots into the net.

And now's it back towards a closer 50/50 match with the scores tied at 3-3.

If the Italian is to lose, his break point conversation (two from 15) will be a key part as to why.

12:33am We're off to another 5-setter

Who could have seen this coming after the first set?

Novak Djokovic has once again come back to keep the match alive having won the fourth set 6-4.

The longer the rallies went, the more the No. 4 seed looked comfortable out on court.

And with the Djoker having the better five-set match record (40 wins from 51 matches) compared to Sinner (six wins out of 16 matches), the tide ever so slightly shifts towards the veteran.

12:28am - Djoker with a crucial hold

What a hold by the Serbian!

With Jannik Sinner having had two break point chances in the eighth game of the fourth set, Novak Djokovic has held his cool and is now just one game away from sending this to a deciding fifth set.

He did so on the first attempt by forcing the Italian into another forehand error (his 23rd for the match). And he defends the second with a winner of his own.

The crowd are certainly getting involved in the match with Djokovic noting it with the chair umpire.

11:55pm Djokovic keeping this one alive

Could another five-setter be on the cards tonight/tomorrow morning?

Well, if Novak Djokovic holds onto this break, we certainly will be.

The 10-time AO Champ has responded to losing the third set by breaking Jannik Sinner's serve on the first time of asking in the fourth set.

He takes a 2-love lead now.

His only loss at the semi-final stage (without retiring with injury) at the Australian Open has come against Jannik Sinner.

And it certainly feels like Novak is playing with that in mind.

11:42pm Sinner strikes again

We might just be one set away from a Sincaraz AO final.

The Italian No. 2 seed has won the all-important third set 6-4 to take a 2-1 lead.

Despite having one less unforced error (Djokovic's 26 to Sinner's 25), the Italian has been far more attacking.

And with 41 winners to the Serbian's 19, it's paying dividends.

10:53pm Djokovic levels

And the ledger is squared!

After losing the first set 3-6, Novak Djokovic has returned the favour to Jannik Sinner in the second set with the same scoreline.

He's gotten a lot better on his first serve and it's paid off.

The 10-time AO Champ has now gone off the court of a change of attire.

10:31pm Djokovic fights back

After looking like it was going to be an easy win for Jannik Sinner, it looks like we could be in for another long one, folks.

After losing the first set 6-3, Novak Djokovic got his first break of the match during the fourth game of the second set to lead.

He's now up 4-2, which would see the match tied at a set apiece.

10:10pm Zverev's regret from semi-final loss

After losing his seventh Grand Slam semi-final, Alexander Zverev has only one regret from his performance.

Having come back from two sets down against Carlos Alcaraz, the German was able to win the third and fourth sets and even had the opportunity to serve for the match after breaking the Spaniard in the second game of the final set.

But the 22-year-old instead proceeded to break the No. 3 seed in his last two service games to win the match 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 after five hours and 27 minutes of incredible tennis.

For Zverev, while he was disappointed with the result, he believed that he should have won the second set.

"Yeah, the second set," he lamented.

"I felt like I should have won (it). Especially serving for it, I didn't play a good game serving for it.

"Funny enough, I don't have many regrets in the fifth set because I was hanging on for dear life, to be honest. I was exhausted.

"But, yeah, the second set. I think going up, being one set all and him starting to cramp in the third set, that probably would have made a difference."

8:17pm Alcaraz wins stunning five set semi

Carlos Alcaraz is just one match away from completing a career slam following a win in an absolute epic of a semi-final, which had some controversial moments.

He is now through to his maiden Australian Open final after defeating Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in the space of five hours and 27 minutes in what is the third longest match in Australian Open history.

In a mostly even clash between the two, the world No.1 was able to come through when it mattered the most, having performed slightly better on his overall service game compared to his opponent, particularly on his second serve.

The 22-year-old also proceeded to hit 78 winners for the match, compared to Zverev's 56, whilst having only four more unforced errors.

And it didn’t help that the German No. 3 seed was unable to hold his nerve, which included hitting one of his four double faults to hand Alcaraz one of his three breaks for the match.

This means that Zverev's Grand Slam semi-final record is now at three wins and seven losses, with many wondering if he'll ever win a major.

But it wasn’t all positive for the No. 1 seed.

He did require consistent work on his cramp towards the end of the third set, with the Spaniard using a medical timeout for it.

But this goes against the ruling within the 2026 Grand Slam Rule Book under the Grand Slam tournament regulations on page 19.

Muscle Cramping: A player may receive treatment for muscle cramping only during the time allotted for change of ends and/or set breaks. Players may not receive a Medical Time-Out for muscle cramping.

This would lead Zverev to express his frustrations towards a tournament official.

"It's unbelievable that he gets treated for cramps; it’s BS," he explained.

“You are protecting these two guys all the time.”

And it would be a sentiment shared with Channel Nine's Jim Courier.

“He is cramping," the American said on commentary.

"This is not an injury, and that is why Zverev is melting down. He is completely right here, Alcaraz has pickle juice in his mouth."

But after Alcaraz was one game away from a maiden Australian Open final, the German held serve and won the third set tie break (7-6 (7-3)) with ease.

Both men would hold their serve throughout the fourth despite Zverev having two break-point opportunities in the sixth game of the set.

This sent the match into another tie-break, which the German won 7-6 (7-4), pushing it to a deciding 5th set.

And it was made all the tougher for Alcaraz after being broken in his first service game of the set to fall love-two down.

But like all the greats do, they find a way to recover.

In the tenth game, with the scores 4-5 and Zverev only needing to hold serve to win, Alcaraz broke back to return level.

The 22-year-old then held his serve and then broke to win the epic.

Speaking post-game, the Spaniard admitted that while he was struggling with cramp, he still believed he could win.

“Believing all the time (how he won)," he said to Courier post-game.

"I always say you have to believe in yourself no matter how much you're struggling.

"I was struggling in the third set, it was one of the most demanding matches I have ever played in my life.

"I have been in this kind of match before, I knew what I had to do. I fought until the last ball. I am proud of myself”

He now enters the eighth Grand Slam final of his career, which equals fellow countryman Rafael Nadal and Swede Bjorn Borg for the most Grand Slam final appearances by any male aged 22 or under.

Alcaraz will either play Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic in the final.

The men's singles final will be played on Sunday night at the same venue with SEN's broadcast beginning from 6pm AEDT across its radio network and on the SEN app.

SEN will also have coverage of the women's final between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, which begins from 6pm AEDT as well.

6:20pm World No. 3 blows up over Alcaraz's "BS" medical timeout

Alexander Zverev has expressed frustration towards Australian Open tournament officials after world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz was allowed a medical timeout for a cramp during their semi-final match.

The Spaniard was up two sets to love (6-4, 7-6 (7-5)) before requiring medical attention due to the cramp on several occasions throughout the third set, with a medical timeout being used for it.

This would lead Zverev to express his frustrations towards a tournament official.

"It's unbelievable that he gets treated for cramps; it’s BS," he explained.

“You are protecting these two guys all the time.”

And it would be a sentiment shared with Channel Nine's Jim Courier.

“He is cramping," the American said on commentary.

"This is not an injury, and that is why Zverev is melting down. He is completely right here, Alcaraz has pickle juice in his mouth."

This is also in the ruling within the 2026 Grand Slam Rule Book under the Grand Slam tournament regulations on page 19.

Muscle Cramping: A player may receive treatment for muscle cramping only during the time allotted for change of ends and/or set breaks. Players may not receive a Medical Time-Out for muscle cramping.

But after being just one game away from a maiden Australian Open final, the German held serve and won the third set tie break (7-6 (7-3)) with ease.

Currently, the fourth set remains on serve with Zverev and Alcaraz tied 3-3.

The winner of this match will play either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic for the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

Image credit: Channel Nine/Stan