It’s certainly up there. Where do I even begin? How about I start with the undeniable GOAT, Novak Djokovic, who managed to dethrone Sinner from his Australian dominance in a classic 5 set victory. I’m a Federer fan at heart, but what Novak continues to achieve on a tennis court is nothing short of legendary. It doesn’t matter that he had a lucky draw with the withdrawal of Jakub Mensik and the retirement of Lorenzo Musetti. Fitness level was not the determining factor of this match.

There is a 14 year age gap between he and Sinner. At 38 years old (young in normal terms, ancient in tennis years) he managed to take down a future all-time great who is in the prime of his career. He doesn’t do this by hitting through them. As we’ve seen over his long and storied career, he wins these Grand Slam matches through superior strategy. His management of points and games in this match are what maintained his physical form. He knows which games are critical – if he was ahead a break in a set, he would spend less energy fighting for another break and fully focus on holding serve. And that meant knowing when to go after a ball or extend a rally, and when not to. If he could win short points, he knew he would have a shot. As Christopher Eubanks put it – he isn’t tanking, it’s a business decision.

Fortunately for Novak, his first serve held up in very crucial moments. At times, he would walk up for a first serve and wait for fan noise to get too loud. Then, he’d take a step back and regain his composure. This is fully permitted by the rules. Novak has always done this, and it’s in these moments when his experience shines through. At this point in his career he won’t dominate the top players in a best of 5 match. He wins by the finest margins. Last night, his ability to find the mental edge over Sinner has carried him through to the finals to compete for his 11th Australian Open title. Do not expect him to retire this year! By the way… Sinner has never won a match that has gone beyond 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Now for Alcaraz vs Zverev. You have to feel for Alex… Carlos is just too good. Let’s start with the medical timeout – perhaps another form of match management employed by Alcaraz. I think the general consensus is that he was cramping. Carlos mentioned in his press conference that he believed it to be an isolated issue with an abductor and that he had not felt the full body effects of cramping when he called his physio to evaluate. The physio then recommended a medical timeout, with Carlos up 2 sets and Alex serving for the third. Zverev certainly took issue with the medical timeout, Alcaraz even drank pickle juice during it. The rules are murky – you aren’t technically supposed to receive a full evaluation because cramping is not an injury. But this physio does not work for Alcaraz, he is an unbiased employee of the tournament. If Alcaraz tells him his groin hurts, he’s going to believe it. 99% of players would do the same thing if they were in Carlos’ shoes, yet Zverev had the right to be frustrated. He let everyone know it, and still managed to push the match to a 5th.

In the 5th set, Alcaraz dug extremely deep as we have seen him do many times before on the biggest stages of the sport. Zverev has choked while serving for the match before (US Open vs Thiem), but this wasn’t really a choke. His legs were gone, affecting his serve, and the serve is what Zverev relies on more than anyone else at the top. But Carlos is a wizard, he earned this match. His displayed his ability to push his mind and body to their respective limits, separating any inklings of doubt from his consciousness. This allowed him to hit shots freely and close out the match.

Alcaraz is more motivated now than he has ever been to win at the Australian Open, for the chance to become the youngest to ever complete the career slam. At the same time, Novak will be competing for his 25th Grand Slam. I really, really hope that the match lives up to the historical significance behind it. I believe that it will, and Alcaraz will make history once again.