Djokovic has already achieved a feat many would have deemed impossible, reaching all grand-slam semi-finals in a calendar year at the age of 38, by the time he stepped onto a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium. It is another remarkable achievement for a player who started his career behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But when he does decide to retire he will do so knowing he has surpassed them all, both in terms of trophies, but also longevity.
His stature in the game is still an imposing one. It certainly played a role against Taylor Fritz, and even affected Alcaraz.
“I’m thinking about the legend, what he has achieved in his career,” Alcaraz said.
“It’s difficult not to think about it. So that makes facing him even tougher. But, you know, I’m just really happy to get my first win against him on the hard court and making another final here.”
The extent of that longevity, however, is now under threat. His run at the top has been record-breaking, but over the past two years, he has been surpassed by the “New Two” of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and the Flushing Meadows semi-final was no different.
“Unfortunately, I ran out of gas after the second set,” Djokovic admitted.
“I think I had enough energy to battle him and to keep up with his rhythm for two sets. After that I was gassed out, and he kept going.”
When Alcaraz served for the opening set, Djokovic was the one trying to tap into the support, encouraging the 24,000 fans packed so high into the rafters that you would need to squint from the courtside to see the back row.
It is the occasion that Djokovic relishes.
“I still enjoy the thrill of competition,” he said. “Today I received amazing support again on court from the crowd. That’s one of the biggest reasons why I keep on going.”
The match might have been billed as a rematch of some of their thrilling encounters over the years, but in reality it was not a close contest, nor even a great match.
It was not a confident first set for either player, and by the end of the opening 49 minutes, both had an unforced-error count in the double figures. The humidity, which had been surprisingly low for the past two weeks, had crept up causing significantly more testing conditions.
When Alcaraz was broken at the start of the second set, it evoked memories of Djokovic’s stunning upset win in the Australian Open quarter-finals. But there was a difference. On that occasion, the Spaniard had been distracted and lost focus because of Djokovic’s thigh injury, whereas on Arthur Ashe there was no such incident, or indeed any doubt.
Unlike in Australia, Alcaraz also regrouped to force his way into the second set, breaking back after losing his opening service game. Towards the end of the set, Djokovic started to look fatigued, and began to make mistakes. His player box started to give more instructions, but as he bent over his towel during the tie-break, it was the energy from the crowd’s standing ovation that seemed to be fuelling him.
Yet it was not enough, a tame sliced backhand into the net and a loopy inside-out shot allowed Alcaraz to grasp a three-point advantage he was never going to relinquish. This was despite a sprint from Djokovic to reach a drop shot that made the 16 years between them, for a second, look more like 16 months.
But that was almost a flash in the pan, a moment of brilliance in a contest where otherwise he was not equal to Alcaraz, nor equipped to truly challenge him. The third set felt more like a formality as Alcaraz cruised to take it 6-2, while Djokovic’s serving appeared troubled and he had to receive on-court treatment from the trainer between the sets.
For Djokovic the match, and tournament, might serve as a cruel reminder that he is not getting any younger, while Alcaraz is still on track to become the first ever men’s singles US Open winner to do so without dropping a set.
