Novak Djokovic said he had always believed he could still play at the top level of tennis and rounded on those who had tried to usher him into retirement after beating Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of the Australian Open on Friday.
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The 38-year-old rolled back the years with a vintage display to down the double defending champion in a five-set thriller and set up a final against Carlos Alcaraz, giving him the chance to land a first Grand Slam title since September 2023.
"I never stopped believing in myself, you know. There's a lot of people that doubt me. I see there is a lot of experts all of a sudden that wanted to retire me or have retired me many times the last couple of years," he told reporters.
"I want to thank them all, because they gave me strength. They gave me motivation to prove them wrong, which I have tonight. For me, it's not a surprise, to be honest.
"I know what I'm capable of. I've had many, many times in my career matches during the Grand Slam where it's just one of those days where you're not feeling your best.
"You try to find a way to win with everything that you possibly have, even though the quality of tennis is not even close to where you want it to be.
"So that was the case, you know?"
STRATEGY AND GAME PLAN
Djokovic, who is bidding to win a record 25th Grand Slam title, conceded he had been fortunate to have two walkovers in the earlier rounds but said there was no luck in Friday's win.
"I came out with great clarity about the strategy and game plan that needed to be executed," he added.
"Obviously, easier said than done. One thing is to imagine how you want to play, and the other thing is to deliver it and execute it on the court against Sinner, who we all know is playing an extremely high level.
"I'm just thrilled to be able to experience something like this tonight."
Bring on Sunday 🍿 pic.twitter.com/3aO7kIcEsr
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2026
With Friday's earlier semifinal between Alex Zverev running nearly five and a half hours, Djokovic's clash with Sinner finished well into the early hours of Saturday morning.
That will leave the fourth seed little time to recuperate before Sunday's final against 22-year-old Alcaraz.
"It's almost 3 am. Yeah, let's see. I cannot make any predictions right now," he said.
"Definitely not going to train tomorrow. Just going to use every hour I possibly can to recover, and hopefully get out on the finals day feeling somewhat refreshed."