Novak Djokovic is 38 and bidding for a 25th Slam title. He faces Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open

New York – New York (AP)-Novak Djokovic is 38 years old and tries to conquer the match of a younger man while he heads for the semi-finals of the United States. It has been two years since his last Grand Slam title, which – for him – must feel like an eternity.

Last season was his first without winning at least one since 2017. And Djokovic is clear that, at this stage of his career, these big trophies of the four biggest sport events are all that he really cares about.

During the three other major tournaments of this year, he was released in the semi-finals, two after being injured: stop at the Australian Open because of a torn hamidshub and clearly limited to Wimbledon by a injured groin muscle. He had not contributed nowhere since he left the All England Club in July before arriving at Flushing Meadows.

Now Djokovic is back in the Final Four in New York, and there is an intimidating road to come. The next step is No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, which is 22 years old. Win this, and a final on Sunday against Jannik Sinner n ° 1, 23, could wait, if the reigning champion beats Felix Auger-Aliassime, 25, in the semi-finals on Friday.

Sinner beat Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 Wednesday evening.

After reaching a 53rd major and 14th semi-final at the US Open, eliminating the seeded n ° 4, Taylor Fritz, 27, in four sets on Tuesday evening, Djokovic played with his beard while reflecting on what will happen.

“Well, it’s not going to become easier, I’m going to tell you,” he said with an ironic smile. “I will try to take one day at a time. Take care of my body. Try to relax and recover. The next few days are really essential so that I can really put my body in shape and ready to fight five sets, if necessary. I would really like it.”

Djokovic already has almost all records of all importance in male tennis, including 24 major championships, 37 major final appearances and the most weeks in n ° 1 in the ranking.

And so on.

What is new to him is to adapt to the fight against this age.

“Normally, I like to play the big games on a big scene. It’s just that I don’t really know how the body will feel in the coming days. But I’m going to do my best with my team to be in good shape for that,” said Djokovic. “There will be a lot of race involved, for sure. It will not be short points.”

It has a mark of 5-3 face to face against Alcaraz, which has already won five titles of slam and combined with Sinner to claim the last and nine of the last 12.

Do not forget: the other three in this period went to Djokovic, more recently to the US Open 2023.

“I have another chance, another blow. I hope I can be in good shape and play enough to follow Carlos,” said Djokovic. “Then it can be anyone’s match.”

Djokovic won the two most recent meetings against the dynamic Alcaraz – in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January and in the Gold Medal at the Paris Olympic Games last year.

“I really want revenge,” said Alcaraz. “It’s obvious.”

Alcaraz was terrified in a terrifying way in the last 1 1/2 weeks, without dropping a set in the tournament, and for a large part of 2025, leading the tour with six titles and a record of 59-6.

Since April, he has 43-2, winning tournaments in Monte-Carlo, Rome, Roland-Garros, Queen’s Club and Cincinnati. The two defeats occurred in the final – in Barcelona (against Holger Rune) and Wimbledon (against Sinner).

Djokovic knows what Alcaraz and Sinner have done lately.

“We do not need to pass words about them. We know that they are two best players in the world,” said Djokovic, who lost against the sinner in the semi-finals of the Open of France and Wimbledon. “Everyone probably awaits and anticipates (an American open final) between the two. I will try to spoil the plans of most people. ”

And then Djokovic added: “I certainly won’t go with a white flag on the ground.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More tennis AP: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis