Novak Djokovic v Carlos Alcaraz start time and how to watch Australian Open final

Djokovic and Alcaraz will return to court with history on the line after surviving five-set epics in the semi-finals

One way or another, history will be made in the Australian Open final on Sunday as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz meet with two career-defining achievements on the line.

After one of the most dramatic semi-final days the tournament has seen, Djokovic returned to his 11th Australian Open final by stunning the defending champion Jannik Sinner in five sets to move one one away from the standalone record of 25 grand slam singles titles. Djokovic, at 38, is also bidding to become the oldest Australian Open champion of all time.

At the other end of the scale, world No 1 Alcaraz can become the youngest man of all time to complete the career grand slam, at the age of 22, after reaching his first Australian Open final. The Spaniard triumphed in five hours and 27 minutes to beat Alexander Zverev in five sets on Friday, in the longest semi-final in the tournament’s history.

Alcaraz and Djokovic have previously met in two grand slam finals, with Alcaraz beating him twice at Wimbledon. But Djokovic won an epic Olympics final in Paris 18 months ago, before beating Alcaraz in last year’s Australian Open quarter-finals. After ending Sinner’s dominant run, and breaking the Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly of finals, no one will be counting Djokovic out this time.

When is Novak Djokovic v Carlos Alcaraz?

The men’s final at the Australian Open between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will begin from 8:30am GMT (UK time).

Is the Australian Open on TV?

The tournament will be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK as well as online on Discovery+.

In the US, it will be shown live on ESPN and Tennis Channel.

Novak Djokovic v Carlos Alcaraz head-to-head

This will be the 10th tour-level match between Djokovic and Alcaraz and their sixth over best of five sets. Djokovic currently leads the head to head 5-4, but Alcaraz won their last meeting at the US Open semi-finals, winning in straight-sets.

Before then, Djokovic had won all four times they have met on a hard-court and Alcaraz’s previous two wins over Djokovic had come in the Wimbledon final, in 2023 and 2024. They have met at the Australian Open once before, with Djokovic winning in the quarter-finals last year.

2026: Australian Open final (outdoor hard) - ?

2025: US Open semi-final (outdoor hard) - Alcaraz won 6-4 7-6 6-2

2025: Australian Open quarter-final (outdoor hard) - Djokovic won 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4

2024: Olympics final (clay) - Djokovic won 7-6 7-6

2024: Wimbledon final (grass) - Alcaraz won 6-2 6-2 7-6

2023: ATP Finals semi-final (indoor hard) - Djokovic won 6-3 6-2

2023: Cincinnati final (outdoor hard) - Djokovic won 5-7 7-6 7-6

2023: Wimbledon final (grass) - Alcaraz won 1-6 7-6 6-1 2-6 6-4

2023: French Open semi-final (clay) - Djokovic won 6-2 5-7 6-1 6-1

2022: Madrid semi-final (clay) Alcaraz won 6-7 7-5 7-6

What happened in the semi-finals?

Possibly one of the most dramatic days the Australian Open has seen. First, Carlos Alcaraz proved why he is the five-set king of tennis as the world No 1 won defeated Alexander Zverev to keep his career grand slam bid alive in five hours and 27 minutes.

Alcaraz looked to be cruising into his first Australian Open final without dropping a set as he led third seed Zverev after two close sets, but as he neared the finish line at 4-4 in the third, the 22-year-old dramatically pulled up, stretching his right leg.

With his movement severely limited, Alcaraz was in serious danger as Zverev forced the fourth set on a tiebreak and then won another tiebreak to take it into the decider. Zverev then broke Alcaraz’s serve in the first game of the fifth.

But the Spaniard somehow managed to hang on, giving himself time to recover physically as the semi-final became the longest ever played at the Australian Open. As Zverev served for the match, Alcaraz broke back, winning the final four games in a row 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (4-7) 7-5.

“It's one of the most demanding matches that I have ever played in my short career,” Alcaraz said. “I've been in this kind of matches before, so I knew what I had to do. I had to put my heart into the match.”

Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after winning his semi-final match against Alexander Zverev in five hours and 27 minutes (Reuters)

Then, a 38-year-old Novak Djokovic became the oldest Australian Open men’s finalist of all time after ending defending champion Jannik Sinner’s winning run in another five-set epic to set up a final with world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic will bid for the standalone record of 25 grand slam titles, and his first in 18 months, on Sunday after producing a vintage performance against the 24-year-old Sinner, who had won his last five matches against Djokovic and his last 19 in a row at this tournament.

In doing so, Djokovic battled from two sets to one down, denying Sinner a fourth consecutive grand slam final against his rival Alcaraz, and proving that he remains a contender for the biggest titles in a match where he began as the major underdog.

Djokovic’s bid for a record 25th grand slam title looked to be over as he trailed Lorenzo Musetti by two sets in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, but Djokovic admitted he was on his way home and “extremely lucky” to progress as the Italian retired with a right leg injury.

“There's a lot of people that doubt me,” he later said. “I see there is a lot of experts all of a sudden that wanted to retire me or have retired me many times the last couple of years. You know, I want to thank them all, because they gave me strength. They gave me motivation to prove them wrong, which I have tonight. For me, it's not a surprise, to be honest.”

(AFP via Getty Images)

What has Novak Djokovic said about Carlos Alcaraz?

“History is on the line for both of us every time we play. The finals of a grand slam, there's a lot at stake. But it's no different from any other big match that I play.

“My preparation is as it should be, and I won against him last year here, also in a gruelling match. Let's see. Let's see how fresh are we both able to be. He also had a big match, but he has 15, 16 years on me. I think it's going to be a bit easier for him to recover.

“I look forward to it. Look, I play tennis competitively mainly to be able to reach the finals of grand slams. Here I am, so I cannot complain about anything.

“I'm just trying to enjoy the moment that I'm experiencing tonight. I'll think about finals later, but for me, this is win that almost equals winning a grand slam.”

Australian Open 2026 prize money

Men’s and women’s singles

Winner: £2.1m (AUD $4.15m)

How Australian Open compares

Men’s and women’s singles champion

US Open (2025): £3.7m

Wimbledon (2025): £3m

Roland Garros (2025): £2.13m

Australian Open (2026): £2.1m