When the five-set semifinal ended at 1:30 a.m., Djokovic sat on his bench for a moment. He exhaled after the four-hour, nine-minute battle, then gave a special thank you to one person in the audience.
Margaret Court, thank you for being here tonight.
Djokovic and Australian Court, 83, currently share the record for the most career Grand Slam titles. If the 38-year-old Serb wins Sunday's final against world number one Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, he will become the only player to have won 25 Grand Slam tournaments.
But then he has to reload, he said.
"I hope I will have enough strength to keep up with him," Djokovic said about the final against Alcaraz.
Djokovic had lost his last five meetings against Jannik Sinner and showed humility after the match.
"I have enormous respect for him. He pushed me to the limit," Djokovic said.
"The intensity and quality were extremely high, and I knew it was the only way for me to win tonight."
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The score against Sinner, who had won in Melbourne the past two years, was 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4.
