Carlos Alcaraz arrived at Rod Laver Arena chasing the one major title missing from his resume to secure the career Grand Slam. However, for the opening stretch of the Australian Open finale, Novak Djokovic continued to dictate the court. But from the middle of the second set, the balance shifted.

Alcaraz steadied himself, and finally, after an explosive clash, the Spaniard secured the win. Following the conclusion of the event, when Djokovic was asked to speak about his loss to Alcaraz, the 38-year-old decided not to resort to any excuses to explain his defeat.

In the post-game presser, refusing to give any excuse he added, “I mean, look, I never like to talk about uh things that, you know, I go through, you know, physically or healthwise because it’s going to come out come across as I’m looking for excuses and taking away the credit of the winner, which so it’s not going to change this time. 

The match result was 6-2, 2-6, 3-6, 5-7 for the Serbian legend. Although Alcaraz is almost 16 years younger than Djokovic, the 10-time Australian Open winner made sure to make it a tough match for the 22-year-old phenom.

Acknowledging the loss, he said, “So of course, after a loss it’s a bitter feeling, but nevertheless I have to be yeah, content with this result.” Congratulating Alcaraz, Djoker added, “Just going to congratulate Carlos, and you know he was the deserved winner on the court today.”

Defeating 24-year-old Italian star Jannik Sinner, Djokovic earned his place in the finals after a five-set victory in the semis. At 38, he had the possibility of becoming the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era, and the first man to reach 25 major singles titles. However, this failure does not impact the glamorous run the maestro has had in the Rod Laver Arena. The most Australian Open victories have been secured by Djokovic. That dominance even made Melbourne earn the title of  “Djokovic’s house.”

When he was further asked about the probable physical setbacks that impacted his match, he stated, “No, no, I’m not going to share. I’m not going to share about physical stuff.”

However, he shared his stance on how the game went for him and analysed the grounds he thought might have gone wrong.

Novak Djokovic shared an unfiltered analysis of his game, sharing where he went wrong

Djokovic looked pretty lackluster as the game went on. The only time he looked in his elements again momentarily was in the last set. However, despite not being ready to come up with excuses, the Serbian legend was asked to point out a flaw in his game. Analyzing the final, the 38-year-old did find something that might have cost him the game. 

“Yeah, just a bad, bad miss uh at four roll and break point and that forehand had a good look at that forehand and yeah, my forehand broke down in important moments and that’s what happens. I mean, one or two shots can change the momentum of the match and switch things around, which happened,” said Djokovic.

He further added, “And yeah, I just I just Yeah, I’m just very disappointed. I wasn’t able to maintain that kind of feeling that I had in the first set. It’s just, you know, a lot of what if scenarios in my head. And yeah, I guess it is what it is. You have to just accept it as it is.”

Interestingly, despite the loss, the Serbian tennis legend had quite a few positive points to take home. And the 2026 Australian Open runner-up himself termed his first set victory as ‘one of the best sets’ he had played in the last two years. Following the loss, Djokovic’s fans will be wanting their favourite star to come back stronger. However, while he is slated to play in the Qatar Open in February, Djokovic hasn’t yet confirmed his participation in the same.