Novak Djokovic vs Jannik Sinner delayed at Australian Open after Carlos Alcaraz twist | Tennis | Sport

Novak Djokovic’s blockbuster semi-final clash with Jannik Sinner has been delayed after world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz survived a dramatic contest with last year’s runner-up, Alexander Zverev, to reach a maiden Australian Open final. The Spanish star led by two sets to love, but started cramping at 4-4 in the third set, and Zverev took it to a decider.

Alcaraz steadied the ship and gave himself a lifeline, breaking as Zverev served for the match, to earn a hard-fought 6-4 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 6-7(4) 7-5 victory in five hours and 27 minutes – the longet men’s semi-final in tournament history. The top seed and Zverev faced off in the day session, with a start of 2.30pm local time. Djokovic and Sinner were scheduled to meet in the night session, which required a separate ticket, not before 7.30pm local time.

But it was 8.14pm by the time Alcaraz booked his spot in Sunday’s championship match, pushing back the start time of the second men’s semi-final. There will be an even bigger delay as organisers must clear out Rod Laver Arena and get the roughly 14,800 night session ticket holders in before the next match can be played.

It took a while for the No. 1 seed to even get off the court. He completed an on-court interview with Jim Courier, packed his belongings, and waved goodbye to the fans before he finally made his way back down the tunnels out of Rod Laver Arena.

As Alcaraz and Zverev got deeper into the fifth set, cameras cut to the scenes around the grounds, with thousands of fans standing in front of big screens and watching the action, waiting for their turn to get on the main showcourt for Djokovic vs Sinner.

Two-time reigning champion Sinner was also shown wandering the hallways as his semi-final match continued to be pushed back.

Host broadcaster Channel 9 showed just how many fans were waiting to get into Rod Laver Arena after the first men’s singles match of the day. “There are people everywhere. It’s 8.30pm, you imagine Djokovic and Sinner have been waiting. They won’t get on until 9 o’clock,” Josh Eagle speculated.

Court feeds showed that the day session spectators had all vacated the stands by around 8.33pm local time, and workers cleaned up before letting the next lot of ticketholders in.