Australian Open SF Preview: Can Djokovic continue his quest for 25 or will Zverev achieve a first?

Novak Djokovic pushed through the pain on Tuesday at the Australian Open to overcome Carlos Alcaraz and keep alive his hopes of winning a record-extending 25th major.

Physically depleted after his three-hour, 37-minute battle against the Spaniard, the question is whether the Serbian can back up that victory when he takes on Alexander Zverev in his 50th major semi-final on Friday.

“The extra day with no match comes at a good time,” said Djokovic on Tuesday following his four-set win against Alcaraz. “I have to assess the situation tomorrow when I wake up. I will try to do as much as I possibly can with my recovery team, with my physio today, tomorrow, the next few days. Probably skip training tomorrow. I’ll see if I’m going to train in two days or not.

“I’ll take it day by day. Now it’s really about recovery. I’m concerned. I am, to be honest, physically. But if I manage somehow to be physically good enough, I think mentally, emotionally I’m as motivated as I can be.”

Djokovic, who had his upper left leg taped during his win against Alcaraz, is chasing a record-extending 11th Australian Open title and famously won the hard-court event in 2023 when managing an injury.

The next force standing in the way of a 100th tour-level title for Djokovic is Zverev, who beat Tommy Paul in four sets to reach his ninth major semi-final. Only Djokovic (13) has reached more Slam semi-finals than the second seed since 2020.

The German is still chasing his first major title, though, but will come into the match relatively fresh, having dropped just two sets en route to the last four.

“I’m going to prepare myself for a tough battle,” Zverev said looking ahead to the semi-finals. “I’m going to prepare myself for a very intense and high-level match. I know I have the level. I’ve beaten [him] before. Hopefully I can do that again.”

Djokovic, coached by Andy Murray, leads Zverev 8-4 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. This will be just their second meeting since 2021 and fourth at a major. Djokovic beat the German in the quarters at Roland Garros in 2019 and in Melbourne in 2021 and in the semi-finals at the US Open in 2021.

Standing deep behind the baseline and happy to grind away, World No. 2 Zverev is playing close to his best in Melbourne and has been back at the top of the game since last year following a horrific ankle injury in 2022. He will look to turn the match against the 37-year-old Djokovic into a physical battle on Rod Laver Arena.

However, temperatures in Melbourne are expected to be around 20 Degrees Celsius on Friday and the cooler conditions could suit Djokovic, who is the third oldest AO semi-finalist in history behind Ken Rosewall and Roger Federer.