Novak Djokovic's Aus Open boycott ends in classic moment with kids after beating Carlos Alcaraz

Djokovic had refused to conduct media duties with Nine after the incident with Tony Jones.

Novak Djokovic officially ended his beef with Australian Open host broadcaster Nine after his epic quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz, before turning to his kids in a funny on-court moment. The 10-time champion kept his quest for a record-breaking 25th major alive after defying injury to prevail 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 against a gutted Alcaraz, who was accused of mocking his injured rival late in the match.

Djokovic shared in an emotional post-match moment with his coach Andy Murray, who experienced more than his fair share of injury setbacks across a glittering career. But it was a funny post-match moment with tennis great Jim Courier during the on-court interview afterwards that had plenty of fans talking, and confirmed his boycott of Nine was officially over.

Novak Djokovic had a funny moment involving his kids after the epic Australian Open quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz. Pic: Getty/Nine
Novak Djokovic had a funny moment involving his kids after the epic Australian Open quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz. Pic: Getty/Nine

The Serb caused when he declined to speak with Courier after his previous victory, before revealing he was boycotting the broadcaster after being angered by comments from Channel 9 host Tony Jones, which Djokovic found offensive to the Serbian community. But the Djokovic camp has since accepted Jones' apology and the matter has been put to bed.

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That's exactly where Djokovic thought his kids should have been as his four-set epic with Alcaraz finished close to 1am local time at Melbourne Park. And the 37-year-old jokingly turned to his wife Jelena, son Stefan and daughter Tara after the incredible victory to question why the kids weren't asleep in bed.

"They don't want me to speak about them. Okay, back to tennis," he said as more laughter rang out and daughter Tara pointed to her wrist as if to remind her dad about the time and tell him to wrap things up. Djokovic's kids wouldn't have wanted to miss Tuesday night's drama that stretched into Wednesday morning though, as their dad once again battled though a worrying injury to seal victory at Melbourne Park.

Djokovic famously won the 2023 Australian Open title after claims he had a 3cm muscle tear in his hamstring. And the 37-year-old once again looked down and out after wincing in pain during the first set with what appeared to be an injury to his left groin. The Serb was broken to go down 4-5 and took a medical timeout to get the leg strapped, before returning to court and dropping the opening set.

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Many thought the Serb wouldn't be able to finish the match but he shocked onlookers by racing out to a 3-0 lead, before Alcaraz hit back to leave the second set all square. But the match took another twist as Djokovic found a way to battle through the groin issue limiting his movement, with the Serb breaking his 21-year-old opponent to claim the second set and never looking back from there as he kept a quest for an 11th Australian Open crown alive.

Novak Djokovic is seen in these images during his Australian Open win over Carlos Alcaraz.
Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open quarter-finals, with some fans accusing the Spaniard of 'mocking' his injured rival. Pic: Getty

Djokovic described the epic four-set triumph as one of his greatest at Melbourne Park and one that was worthy of a final. But the 24-time major champ - who's now just two wins off overtaking Margaret Court for the most grand slam singles titles. in history - declined to go into much detail about the nature of his injury after the match.

Novak Djokovic declines to elaborate on injury post-match

"Since I'm still in the tournament I don't want to reveal too much obviously," he said. "The medication started to kick in and they helped, no doubt. I had to take another dose... to be honest, if I lose that second set I don't know if I would've continued playing.

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"I saw that Carlos was hesitant a little bit from the back of the court and I took my chances and started to feel better, started to move better. It didn't bother me, it didn't create any hindrance towards the end of the match ... obviously when the medications start to release I'll see what the reality is tomorrow morning."

Alexander Zverev now stands in the way of Djokovic and another Australian Open final, with the German World No.3 getting the better of American Tommy Paul earlier on Tuesday. Zverev - who is aiming to win his first major singles title - beat Paul 7-6 (7/1) 7-6 (7/0) 2-6 6-1.

with AAP