Jim Courier on Novak Djokovic’s horic win over Carlos Alcaraz: ‘We have just seen what Novak could have….’ | Tennis News

While Novak Djokovic created hory with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over world number 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open quarter-finals to become the only male player to reach 50 Grand Slam semifinals, the Serbian also had to fight an injury scare in the opening set of the match. The world number 7 was seen struggling with his leg in the first set before he returned in the match with his upper thing being strapped up. Six-time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier has termed the Serbian’s comeback to the comebacks his compatriot Andre Agassi would make in his career. Courier, who had a 7-5 win-loss record against Agassi shared his views post the match.
“We have just seen what Novak could have played like for his entire career. If he decided that he wanted to return like Andre Agassi, I guess he could have! That’s what it looked like tonight. It was born out of necessity. This was a guy who had limited options once the injury took place.” Courier told Channel Nine.
Novak Djokovic returned from a set down and a minor injury to defeat Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open on Tuesday. (AP)
37-year-old Djokovic had lost the opening set 4-6 before he won the next three sets in the quarter-final against Alcaraz to enter his 50th Grand Slam semi-finals. Djovokic first played in the Australian Open in 2005 where he lost to eventual winner Marat Safin in the first round. In 2006, the Serbian again suffered a first-round loss in the Australian Open when he lost against Paul Goldstein of USA in the first round. It was also the last time that the Serbian lost in the first round of a Grand Slam in his career to date. The Serbian has so far won 94 matches in the Australian Open with nine losses. Andy Murray’s former coach Mark Petchey termed Djokovic style of play in the quarter-final as ‘ultra-aggressive. “The injury that Novak sustained midway through the opening set, we were wondering what that was going to do.
But all it did was flick a switch in him, that allowed him to play the sort of tennis that we never really see. He was so ultra-aggressive on returns, a bit like Andre Agassi. “I mean, he literally just stepped in and lasered returns. And what it said to all of us, it’s like this guy’s won 24 majors and he’s played within himself. He’s played within himself! There was another gear last night that nobody else has seen before from Novak, and he’s good enough to be able to produce it and not miss. His return was so dominant against Carlos’s second serve…He just went nuclear off returns and Carlos wasn’t able to live with them,” Petchey told Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his quarterfinal match against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo)
The Serbian has also struggled with injuries in recent years with a abdomen tear in 2021 and a hamstring injury in 2023 and has made a comeback. The Serbian will now face German Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. “There’s lots of us that have looked at it, with the tear in the ab (in 2021), the hamstring (in 2023), how has he managed to do this? He is so spiritual when it comes to these things. He is so much about the cells in the body re-healing, he’s got the power of the mind in these moments. Novak is the best that’s ever been and it’s worked for him. I don’t know the extent of the injury but if you’re sitting in Zverev’s camp, you have to expect him to go out there and be 100 per cent fit when it comes to Friday,” Petchey said.

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