Im(moral) Winner
G.O.A.T.
You can put food/drinks in the slam trophies
2026 Australian Open Final: Carlos Alcaraz [1] vs Novak Djokovic [4]
- Thread starter Im(moral) Winner
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AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
One, Djokovic had the benefit of not having to win a set in two straight matches to save energy while Federer played a full draw (Nishikori did give him some workout, too). Two, Sinner is not better than any Nadal with a pulse. Third, old but non-ancient Djokovic is still likely better than any Alcaraz.
Topspin_80
Hall of Fame
Carlos Costa
smoledman
G.O.A.T.
Nadal 14-0 in FO finals and nobody even pushed him to a 5th set a single time.
NYTennisfan
Hall of Fame
Same here. I can rest easy now that Carlos has completely the Career Slam.I’ve been up about 20 hours. I’m about to sleep good AF
mike danny
Bionic Poster
Alcaraz was 19 in 2022 which is the equivalent of 2005 Nadal, not 2008
RSJfan
Legend
You may want to think about it a bit more before you continue pushing this silly idea that losing in the finals detracts from Egg’s record. Egg enhanced his legacy with his incredible run. He made the finals and went through Carrot.
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Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
1R French Open loss in his final slam. Had never lost before the 4R there in his career.
Gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Graf lost Wimbledon 99 and then because of her injuries could not play anymore.
Sampras retired after he realized he didn't want to compete anymore, he made his decision before W 2003, not at USO 2002.
Barty has no business being counted with the other two, she isn't in their league.
Megafanoftennis100
Hall of Fame
actually, I agree with you, mate.
Well said.
Pheasant
Legend
That win over Sinner was legendary. Djokovic fans will always have that. Even I will remember that one for the rest of my years.
And yes, it is always way better to go deep. I was proud when Federer at the 2020 AO made the semis. His knee was acting up badly. And yes, he got help from Millman and Sandgren, who both choked badly. But nevertheless, Fed made the semis and I couldn’t have been happier. And I am still proud of Fed’s 2019 Wimbledon effort. It took a while. lol!!!! But now that he’s been retired for a while, I’m glad that he made the final.
Congrats to Djoker for a valiant effort. The old man showed the world that he’s still dangerous as can be. And he played his best tennis in 3 years.
Oval_Solid
Hall of Fame
Alcaraz got a big team
Megafanoftennis100
Hall of Fame
BTW what happened to Djoker after the first set?
Did Carlos raise his level or did Djoker simply drop his own?
Did Carlos raise his level or did Djoker simply drop his own?
smoledman
G.O.A.T.
Nobody cares about that last R128 loss. He didn't tarnish is finals record is the point.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
He really should be gunning for the CYGS tbh. His greatest obstacle by far is personal failure because no one can do anything when Alcaraz plays to his ability, given that the competition consists of Sinner the master mug beater, extremely ancient Djokovic, and a bunch of limp-wristed mugs.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
They bowed out on top. They didn’t add all the excess losses.
Anyway, not going to argue anymore with you. If you want Djokovic to end his career on a bagel like Federer or end with a 1R loss at a slam like Nadal then ok.
I just think there’s something in knowing when to bow out.
Enjoy your night
Badabing888
Hall of Fame
King Carlos!
Very gracious of Novak in his speech. He’s been passing on the torch for the last 2 years. Still got a couple more years at least. That is being part of the history of the game.
But tonight belongs to Carlos and his team. Congrats! Youngest men’s player to complete the career slam. Absolutely phenomenal achievement!
Very gracious of Novak in his speech. He’s been passing on the torch for the last 2 years. Still got a couple more years at least. That is being part of the history of the game.
But tonight belongs to Carlos and his team. Congrats! Youngest men’s player to complete the career slam. Absolutely phenomenal achievement!
ACE of Hearts
Bionic Poster
A mixture of both. Now go back to bed.
Djokovic fell off a cliff in the 2nd and 3rd, was competitive in the 4th.
NYTennisfan
Hall of Fame
He's made the semis of every slam last year and the finals of this one beating a young ATG along the way. Why in the hell would be quit now? You can't compare this to Serena, Nadal and Federer. It's not even remotely close.
If anything l he's enhancing his legacy with this late career run and actually broke another record making the semi of every slam last year.
Megafanoftennis100
Hall of Fame
What if the match went to 5 sets?
I reckon Alcaraz would've simply broken early and won the 5th set 6-1 or 6-2.
Sephiroth
Hall of Fame
I have a feeling zverev's gonna hand him an L somewhere this year on a big match unfortunately, Carlos struggles more against him than grandpa egg and Sinner
Red Rick
Bionic Poster
Djokovic did a dance imitation of the world economy during the Great Depression
First of the many. Incredible player. No higher level than his top gear.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
They bowed out on top. They didn’t add all the excess losses.
Anyway, not going to argue anymore with you. If you want Djokovic to end his career on a bagel like Federer or end with a 1R loss at a slam like Nadal then ok.
I just think there’s something in knowing when to bow out.
Enjoy your night
Graf lost Wimbledon final to Davenport, that was her goal, one last Wimbledon. She lost her last slam final.
Sampras bowed out, because he felt he couldn't compete and win Wimbledon.
Basically they both understood they did not have it in them anymore.
And seriously, Barty has no business being mentioned, she won only three slams, and isn't even an ATG, her legacy no where close to being mentioned in the same breath and she gave up while still in her 20s, nothing impressive about that.
Breakpointerer
Legend
Even if one were to agree with this line of thought it doesn't hold up when the guy is losing semis and finals to players 15 years younger to him. It's not like he's getting wrecked in the first rounds.They bowed out on top. They didn’t add all the excess losses.
Anyway, not going to argue anymore with you. If you want Djokovic to end his career on a bagel like Federer or end with a 1R loss at a slam like Nadal then ok.
I just think there’s something in knowing when to bow out.
Enjoy your night
ACE of Hearts
Bionic Poster
It was gonna be difficult beating two top players back to back but he still making deep runs in slams. I think love of the game and the competitiveness of it is why he’s still playing. He’s made a ton of money that’s for sure. A 1.45 million dollar check is not shabby.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
And he’s losing slam finals and semis to great players.
Serena was losing to every Samantha, Stacy and Lily in her late 30’s
BorgTheGOAT
G.O.A.T.
Still quicker than AO. Fed has a game for fast surfaces with an ATG serve. This is less impacted by age than movement.
InsideOut900
Legend
He has good margin on clay (in spite of how he struggled against both Zed and Sinner last two years), but winning Wimbledon and USO after that is highly unlikely. Sinner will get him again eventually.
BorgTheGOAT
G.O.A.T.
Agree on Djoko vs Raz but 24 years old Sinner at his strongest slam should be better than 33 years old Nadal at his worst. I agree that any good version of Nadal would of course destroy any version of Sinner but if you assume such a bias (Sinner at his best and at his best slam vs Nadal past prime and on his worst surface), then I would even lean to Sinner and you know I find him the most overrated player in this forum.
Also: In terms of energy saving, the Musetti retirement was still close to a normal three-set match in terms of length, so it did not save him so much more than if he had won a "normal" match in straights.
celito
Professional
Novak needs to retire whenever he feels like it. His choice, not yours.
If you think that diminishes his legacy, that's a you problem.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
And tbf, Novak not winning 6 full matches has to be taken into account.
Fed beat Nadal after playing 5 full matches.
Novak beat Sinner after basically skipping 2
Poisoned Slice
Bionic Poster
Sorry,y I missed this yesterday. hmmm, I'm not sure if I have. Can't say for sure. It doesn't feel like my style, but maybe circumstances made it happen one time or something.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
I wanna see Ferrero's reaction to Alcaraz winning the AO btw.
celito
Professional
This guy said Novak should have retired in 2024. Novak just made a slam final beating the #2 player in the SF. It's a ridiculous argument. When a professional athlete retires is really none of people's business. Except maybe for boxing or MMA.
RSJfan
Legend
Only at TTW is this debatable. That there are circumstances in which losing earlier is better. Examples of this ridiculous notion is to protect a H2H record or as suggested above if you aren’t going to win the final it’s better to lose before the final because 10-0 “looks nicer” than 10-1. At TTW sometimes losing a match > winning a match.
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Incognito
Legend
Without a doubt. Zverev would have found a way to choke.
prairiegirl
Hall of Fame
great result
Incognito
Legend
He did not. Not even at the vicinity of his level at the USO IMO. He is more error prone here, during the whole tournament.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
Sure he should be, but is he really? Nadal did have a pulse and that spells danger for a high-floor low-ceiling player like Sinner. It's not like Ned was poor, he performed reasonably well against Federer though was clearly outplayed overall.
(Besides, is Wimbledon really Nadal's worst slam when it comes to level of play? It may arguably be the USO where Nadal's tally is enhanced by two weak titles whereas he had no such luxury at Wimbledon.)
How much energy you expend also depends on your level of play, better tennis requires more effort. Djokovic didn't play well against Musetti so he didn't expend as much energy as he would have were he to play at a top level throughout the match.
Firstly , congrats to Carlos for his 7th GS and completing the winning of all GS's at such an early age, he is already one of the greats and if he carries on like thus for another 8 to 10 years , will be in anyone's conversation about the GOAT.
Now for the current GOAT Novak, I think managing to best a prime Sinner in semi final then really pushing Alcaraz to play his best to win in 4 hard fought sets at age of 38, is an amazing achievement
Reaching his 38th GS final ,at the age of 38, is another incredible achievement and really a other sign he is certainly the greatest of the big 3 and likely of all time. At least as it currently stands.
Now for the current GOAT Novak, I think managing to best a prime Sinner in semi final then really pushing Alcaraz to play his best to win in 4 hard fought sets at age of 38, is an amazing achievement
Reaching his 38th GS final ,at the age of 38, is another incredible achievement and really a other sign he is certainly the greatest of the big 3 and likely of all time. At least as it currently stands.
BorgTheGOAT
G.O.A.T.
I said, I can argue for both. Fed came closer, Fed's way to the final itself was more impressive, but Fed had the surface advantage imho (Wimbledon grass with a strong serve is better for old-age fairy-tale run than AO HC for a grinder) and Djoko was again 9 months older (which at this point can make a difference). I personally lean to Fed myself but it is not a clear thing imho. As for opponents-strength in the semi and final, I think it is very similar.
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