World No.1 Alcaraz fought back in the second after being dispatched in the first leg by Djokovic – 16 years his senior. At the end of the second set, the Serbian returned to the dressing room briefly to freshen up, the Spaniard was seen in discussions with his team courtside, pointing to the roof before speaking to the umpire and tournament referee Wayne McKeown. It had become apparant the roof was slowly closing in Melbourne with the view to shutting completely. Alcaraz said: “Yeah. I know I know. Why is it closed a little bit? That’s what I’m telling you.

“The roof is a little bit closed and I didn’t know that. I just looked up there and was like; ‘Why’s it closed’? It’s not fair on the players to know that. Do you know what I mean?”

Ex-British No.1 turned TV pundit Tim Henman was co-commentating as part of TNT Sports’ coverage. The 51-year-old sought comment from the organisers in Melbourne regarding the gradual closing of the roof and he was told that there was rain nearby in southern Australia.

He said: “I’m trying to understand why the roof is partially short and the response was that it was raining very close by so in preparation for shutting the roof swiftly then a much shorter delay.” With the roof open during the opening two sets, the breeze from the wind across the court was playing a key role in the showdown.

It was said that there was a breeze from the right of the umpire’s chair. During the second set – which saw Alcaraz storm back to level up proceedings 6-2 – the Spaniard saw a shot clip the net and loop up into the air with the wind, seeing the ball land on the net as it bounced, as Djokovic looked to reply.

The change in climate at the Rod Laver Arena didn’t have too much of a detrimental effect for the 22-year-old, who was searching for his first Grand Slam win down under to become the latest tennis star to complete the set. He moved into a commanding position during the third set, winning 6-4.

Both players went into Sunday’s final after two mammoth semi-finals. Alcaraz’s win over Alexander Zverev took over five hours in a five-set classic, while 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic won back-to-back sets to eliminate defending champion Jannik Sinner.