Rafael Nadal showed his gratitude to Novak Djokovic after the Serb, and Carlos Alcaraz, spoke glowingly about him in the aftermath of the Australian Open final. Alcaraz saw off Djokovic in a four-set battle across three hours in Melbourne. The 22-year-old became the youngest ever player to win the Career Slam while denying Djokovic a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam. After the final, both Djokovic and Alcaraz praised Nadal during their speeches after the Spaniard watched from the stands at Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic mentioned Nadal unprompted during his on-court speech. The Serb, 38, said: “I want to speak to the legendary Rafa, who is in the stands. Just a few words. Obviously it feels very weird to see you there and not here but I just want to say it’s been an honour to share the court with you and to have you watching the finals here.

“It’s first time for me and obviously a bit of a strange feeling for me. But thank you for being present. It’s too many Spanish legends, it felt like I was two against one tonight! It wasn’t fair but okay.” Before Alcaraz added: “For me, as Djokovic said, it’s a little bit weird seeing Rafa in the stands.

“It’s the first time if I’m not wrong, as a professional. I know you were watching me when I was like, 15, 14 years old. It’s been a long time. For me it’s such an honour playing in front of you. We had great battles on the court, not too many, but for me it was an honour sharing the court, practicing, playing matches, in the locker room. Now to see you watching my matches. For me it’s just a privilege. Thank you very much for being here.”

And Nadal later wrote on social media: “Congratulations @carlosalcaraz for winning the @AustralianOpen and achieving a Career Grand Slam! Congratulations @DjokerNole on reaching another final in Melbourne and continuing to make history in our sport. Thank you for your words during the ceremony!”

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Well before the post-match praise for Nadal, Djokovic was spotted speaking to his old rival mid-match. During the fourth set after noticing that Nadal applauded a point, the Serb joked: “Wanna play, Rafa?”

Djokovic has long overtaken Nadal’s record of Slams, having done so in 2023 when he won the French Open. But his chase for a history-making 25th has lasted since the same year’s US Open.

Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have now won all nine Slams since then. And Djokovic is at least encouraged he beat Italian Sinner in a five-set thriller in the semi-finals. He said: “I’m grateful, again. It’s hard just right after the match to be all positive and smiling, you know, because you are a competitor and you don’t want to lose, and you don’t like to lose.

“That’s the kind of feeling. But overall, for sure it’s been a fantastic tournament. Yeah, I knew that I’d probably have to beat two of them on the way to the title.

“I beat one, which is great, so it’s a step more further than I have gone in Grand Slams than last year. Very nice, encouraging. But, you know, not enough for me. Yeah, let’s see. I’m going to keep pushing and see if I get another chance.”

Djokovic’s next opportunity to win another major will come at Roland Garros, where Nadal was dominant with 14 titles. Since the King of Clay’s last, in 2022, Djokovic has won the tournament once while Alcaraz is the back-to-back defending champion on the Paris clay.