Djokovic leaves leg injury a mystery as he closes in on an 11th Australian Open title

“Now that it’s cooling off, I can start to feel different things. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow and day by day [after that].”

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This is just the latest Australian Open injury drama for Djokovic, who had an abdominal tear in 2021, the aforementioned hamstring tear in 2023, then a wrist issue going into last year’s tournament.

He also underwent elbow surgery after his 2018 Open loss.

Djokovic looked compromised for much of the second set and appeared more conservative with his movement, including rarely even attempting to chase down Alcaraz’s regular drop shots.

He said in the aftermath that he may not have continued the match if he had lost the second set.

However, Djokovic, after handing back an early break, levelled the match with a sparkling backhand down-the-line return winner to break his Spanish rival to love. From there, he took control of the match.

The 37-year-old said he noticed improvement at the end of the second set, then felt “pretty much normal” the entire third and until midway through the fourth set.

“[The] end of the fourth was a little bit worse, but still OK,” Djokovic said.

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“Look, I feel for [Alcaraz]. I understand that it’s not comfortable to play someone who you don’t know if he’s going to retire or not. Is he moving? Is he running? What’s happening? I felt that he was looking at me more than he was looking at himself.

“It kind of reminded me of 2023, really, when this happened … I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few days, but I’m hoping for the best.”

Alcaraz, who struck 50 winners to Djokovic’s 31 but also many more unforced errors, struggled tactically with the situation.

That “hesitation” from the 21-year-old, as Djokovic put it, played into the super Serb’s hands, which Alcaraz rued afterwards.

“I think everybody saw in the second set he’s struggling a little bit to move,” Alcaraz said.

“I don’t know if it was more running to the forehand or running to the backhand, but obviously, he was struggling.

“Then, [in] the third and fourth sets, I didn’t see anything bad from him.

“I’m not saying he made a show. I’m just saying that … it’s obvious, and everybody saw it, that he’s struggling in the second set.”

Djokovic, who likened the match atmosphere on Tuesday night to a grand slam final, said he was unlikely to hit on Wednesday as his team monitors his left leg injury.

“The extra day with no match comes at a good time. I have to assess the situation tomorrow when I wake up,” he said.

“I will try to do as much as I possibly can with my recovery team, with my physio today, tomorrow, [and] the next few days. I’ll probably skip training tomorrow. I’ll see if I’m going to train in two days or not.

“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.”

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