McEnroe commentated on the blockbuster quarter-final with his brother Patrick for the Australian host broadcaster, Channel Nine. After watching Djokovic physically struggle early on, he suggested the injury wasn’t genuine.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine,” the seven-time Major winner said. In a warning to Alcaraz and the audience, he added: “Don’t be fooled.”
Djokovic took his off-court medical timeout with Alcaraz leading 5-4 in the first set with a break. When he returned, the Spaniard immediately closed out the set.
The Serb started to raise his level and took an early 3-0 lead in the second. Alcaraz drew level but Djokovic only grew stronger and broke again to take it 6-4, evening the score.
When Djokovic won set two, Patrick McEnroe asked: “Did you see this coming?” But John still firmly believed the No. 7 seed had been fine all along.
“Yes,” he replied. Whether or not his theory was correct, Djokovic continued to raise his level as the match went on while Alcaraz was left feeling helpless.
There was a boomerang of breaks towards the end of the third set, with Djokovic taking the lead before the 21-year-old pegged one back.
Djokovic was fired up. He touched his ear with his finger to encourage the crowd and blowing kisses.
He carried his momentum straight into the fourth set and broke immediately while Alcaraz looked at his team, bewildered.
The world No. 7 still seemed to be carrying a niggle as he took painkillers during the first changeover of the set.
But the 24-time Major winner was relentless. He broke again and took a two-set-to-one lead on a crazy set point that even had Alcaraz laughing in disbelief. And Djokovic finished off the job, winning 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 to reach his 50th Grand Slam semi-final.
Afterwards, Djokovic proved McEnroe wrong as he revealed he considered retiring from the match and raised concerns about recovering for his semi-final. “I didn’t know, to be honest, if I lost the second set I didn’t know if I would continue playing,” he said.
“Obviously when the medication starts to release, I’ll see what the reality is tomorrow morning. But right now I’ll just try to be in the moment and enjoy this victory.”
