Djokovic mentally ready for Zverev

Grateful to Murray

Djokovic holds an 8-4 record over the 27-year-old and will be looking to new coach Andy Murray, who himself won three of his four meetings with Zverev, to establish a game plan.

The Scot has been a calm and collected presence in Djokovic's courtside box during the tournament after the former rivals unexpectedly joined forces late last year.

The Serbian, who is into a record 50th Grand Slam semifinal, headed straight over to embrace him after beating Alcaraz.

"I feel more and more connected with Andy every day. We face challenges every single day. People don't see that obviously," said Djokovic.

"We try to make the most out of every day and grow together. He's been as committed to my career and this tournament as he can be.

"So it was kind of a gesture of appreciation, respect for him, and the fact that he's out there, and he doesn't need to be. He accepted to work with me.

"He's giving all his support to me, to the whole team, and trying to make it work.

"This (against Alcaraz) was a huge win for all of us, including Andy and myself, you know, for the relationship. That's why I went to him, because I just felt very grateful that he's there."

'Biggest mistake'

Alcaraz said his failure to capitalize on Djokovic's thigh problem was his "biggest mistake" in losing to the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

The 21-year-old Spaniard Alcaraz has won four major titles but his wait for a first Australian Open crown goes on.

Djokovic afterwards refused to say exactly what his injury problem was, but said "the medication started to kick in, and it helped".

Alcaraz felt he should have rammed home the advantage when Djokovic was struggling still in the second set.

"Honestly I felt like I was controlling the match and I let him get into the match again. I'm going to say that was the biggest mistake that I made today," said Alcaraz.

"In the second set I had to play a little bit better just to push him even more to the limit. We saw that he had issues just moving a little bit in the second set.

"I had to push him a little bit more just to the limit, and I didn't. I didn't do it.

"After that, I think he started to feel better and was playing such a great level."

Alcaraz said he would leave Australia with his "head up", saying that the defeat in a quarterfinal at the hands of one of the best ever would help him develop further as a player.

"I'm just lucky to live this experience," he said.

"From these matches I'm getting so much experience about how to deal with everything. I'm not going to hide.

"I've done great things in tennis already, but playing against one of the best in history of our sport, these kinds of matches help me a lot in the future to be better."

AFP