Novak Djokovic made an honest admission about his runner-up speech after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2026 Australian Open final on Sunday, February 1. The Serb was chasing a historic 25th Grand Slam at the event, a feat no tennis player has yet achieved.
While Djokovic started out strong, winning the opening set 6-2, Alcaraz made a swift recovery in the sets that followed. The Spaniard closed out the match 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in three hours and five minutes to become the youngest men’s player to achieve a career Grand Slam.
What Did Novak Djokovic Say in His Runner-up Speech at the Australian Open?
Sunday’s match was Djokovic’s third defeat to Alcaraz in a Major final, having lost the Wimbledon title clashes in 2023 and 2024. After the Spaniard crushed his dreams of creating tennis history in Melbourne, he said:
“First and foremost, of course, congratulations, Carlos, an amazing tournament, amazing couple of weeks to your coach, to your family, to your team. What you’ve been doing, it’s I think the best word to describe it is historic, legendary, so congratulations and I wish you the best of luck.”
Djokovic then joked about extending his career 10 more years to compete with Alcaraz. “For the rest of your career, I mean, you’re so young, you have a lot of time like myself. So I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other many more times in the next 10 years, yeah.”
He admitted that he also had a winning speech ready. “I had a winning speech prepared and a losing speech prepared. So let, let me, let me go back to it one second. Yeah, okay, now I want to keep it short. This is Carlos’s moment, jokes aside.”
Djokovic thanked the crowd for cheering him on across the fortnight and especially during his final two matches against Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz. “I want to just say in the end that you guys (the crowd), particularly the last couple of matches, gave me something that I have never experienced in Australia, that much love, support, positivity.”
“I tried to, I try to give you back with good tennis over the years. This has been my, I think 21st year, maybe 22nd year coming to Australia, honestly. You know, I always believe in myself, and I think that is something that is truly needed and necessary when you’re playing at this level against incredible players like Carlos and Jannik.”
“I must be very honest and say that I didn’t think that I would be standing in a closing ceremony of a Grand Slam once again, so I think I owe you the gratitude as well for pushing me forward throughout the last couple of weeks. And God knows, God knows what happens tomorrow, let alone in six months or 12 months, so. It has been a great ride. I love you guys,” the Serb said.
The Serb had a rather unusual path to the final. He won his first three matches against Pedro Martínez, Francesco Maestrelli, and Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets. He then progressed to the quarterfinal without playing his fourth-round match after his opponent, Jakub Menšík, pulled out due to injury.
In his quarterfinal against Lorenzo Musetti, the 38-year-old trailed by two sets as the Italian looked poised to win the contest. In the third set, though, Musetti appeared to injure his right leg. He offered Djokovic a second bite of the cherry by retiring, leading 6-4, 6-3, 1-3 (ret.). The Serb then edged out two-time defending champion Sinner in the semifinal, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, to reach his first Slam final since Wimbledon 2024.
