Novak Djokovic is no stranger to Grand Slam semifinals. He’s been here 53 times, 14 of them in New York. But as he prepares to face Carlos Alcaraz on Friday under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the stakes feel different.
At 38, with injuries piling up and rivals half his age rewriting the sport, Djokovic is chasing something more than another trophy – he’s fighting to prove time hasn’t beaten him yet.
It has been two long years since his last Grand Slam title, the 2023 U.S. Open.
For a player who once stacked majors with metronomic consistency, the drought feels like a lifetime.
Last season marked his first without a Slam since 2017.
And he hasn’t been shy about admitting that, at this stage, the big four events are all that matter.
Yet 2025 has tested him like few seasons before.
In January, he pulled out of the Australian Open with a torn hamstring.
By July, a groin injury left him hobbled at Wimbledon.
The French Open and Wimbledon both ended in the semifinals, frustratingly close but out of reach.
After that, he stepped away from competition, nursing his body, training in silence. Flushing Meadows is his first tournament in nearly two months.
And still, Djokovic keeps finding ways to get back.
On Tuesday night, he outlasted No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz in four bruising sets, earning another crack at the future of the sport.
“Well, it’s not going to get easier, I’ll tell you that,” Djokovic said with a wry grin afterward, tugging at his beard. “I need to take it one day at a time, really take care of my body. These next couple of days are key – recover, relax, be ready for five sets if that’s what it takes.”
If anyone knows how to do it, it’s Djokovic. His resume dwarfs the rest of the field: 24 major titles, 37 finals, more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in history. But what he hasn’t yet mastered is aging in a sport that is now built around the speed, stamina, and unrelenting physicality of players like Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz, 22, arrives in New York in devastating form.
He hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament and has steamrolled through 2025 with six titles and a 59-6 record.
Since April, he is 43-2, picking up crowns in Monte-Carlo, Rome, Roland Garros, Queen’s Club and Cincinnati. His only stumbles came in finals – Barcelona to Holger Rune, Wimbledon to Sinner. “I really want revenge,” Alcaraz said this week, eyes locked on Djokovic. “That’s obvious.”
The Spaniard trails Djokovic 3-5 in their rivalry, but momentum tilts his way.
Their last two Slam meetings went to Djokovic – the Australian Open quarterfinals this January and the Olympic gold-medal match in Paris last summer.
However, Alcaraz has grown since then, blending raw power with poise that belies his age. For many, this semifinal feels less like a passing of the torch than a battle over who gets to hold it.
Should Djokovic survive Alcaraz, the road doesn’t get easier. Waiting in the final could be world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, 23, who has collected two majors this year and dispatched Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Sinner and Alcaraz have combined to win the last seven Slams, nine of the last 12. The other three? Djokovic.
“We don’t need to spend words about the two of them,” Djokovic said, nodding toward the young guns. “They’re the two best players in the world. Everybody is expecting and anticipating a final between them. I’m going to try to mess up those plans.”
That is Djokovic in a nutshell – stubborn, defiant, unwilling to go quietly. “I definitely am not going with a white flag on the court,” he said.
The night ahead may determine whether he still has enough to match the pace of youth. But if history has taught anything, it’s this: betting against Djokovic, even when the odds tilt hard against him, has rarely been a winning play.
