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‘Not a drama’: Rafael Nadal backs Carlos Alcaraz in Australian Open final but lauds ‘very competitive’ Novak Djokovic

Nadal, who will be at Rod Laver Arena for the men’s final on Sunday said he would be supporting Alcaraz while reserving respect for his old rival.

4 min readJan 31, 2026 03:07 PM IST

Australian Open 2026: Nadal backs Alcaraz in the final but has reserved praise for his old rival Novak Djokovic.

Australian Open 2026: Nadal backs Alcaraz in the final but has also reserved praise for his old rival, Novak Djokovic. (AP Photo)

With Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz finding themselves back on a collision course in a Grand Slam final, 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal has made his assessment of Sunday’s blockbuster Australian Open 2026 final.

Nadal, who has flown into Melbourne ahead of the finale at the Rod Laver Arena, backed his compatriot Alcaraz, even as he lavished praise on Djokovic’s longevity to take on Alcaraz and world no. 2 Jannik Sinner at the top of men’s tennis at the age of 38. Djokovic edged past Sinner in a gruelling semi-final that went the distance, breaking a losing streak of five games to reach a record 11th final at the Australian Open.

Djokovic is bidding to become the oldest man to win the men’s title while also aiming for the elusive 25th Grand Slam, enabling him to go past Margaret Court’s 24 titles.

“I really believe that he [Djokovic] is here for one simple reason – because if I don’t get injured, probably I will be here playing, too,” said Nadal, who won his penultimate Slam in Melbourne in 2022.

Great to see @RafaelNadal back at the Australian Open for the first time since his retirement to mark Kia’s 25th anniversary as a long-standing AO major partner. Federer, Djokovic and now Nadal … it’s been a phenomenal AO. pic.twitter.com/D2Y57Otce1

— Craig Tiley (@CraigTiley) January 31, 2026

“When you like to do this thing, if you are not injured and if you are not, I mean, super tired mentally, why wouldn’t you be here?

“I think it’s a positive example of commitment, of resilience … I mean, Novak, for obvious reasons, he’s not at his prime, but he is still very, very competitive at an age that is difficult to be very competitive. So, full respect.”

Nadal, however, believed that Alcaraz would stand a better chance come Sunday, even as he was battling cramps during his epic semi-final win over Alexander Zverev, lasting 5 hours and 27, the third-longest match in the Slam’s history.

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“The finals of grand slams, you know, there’s a lot at stake, but it’s no different from, you know, any other big match that I play. I’m sure he will recover even if it has been a long battle, the other semi-final wasn’t a short battle either,” Nadal said.

“I think Carlos has more possibilities of recovering almost better than Novak.”

While Djokovic has won all 10 of his previous finals in Melbourne, including the longest-ever Grand Slam final against Nadal in 2012, lasting 5 hours and 53 minutes, Alcaraz too is on the lookout for history. The 23-year-old world No. 1 is vying to become the youngest man to complete the Career Slam.

“History is on the line for both of us every time we play,” Djokovic had said during his post-match press conference at 3am on Saturday.

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“The finals of grand slams, you know, there’s a lot at stake, but it’s no different from, you know, any other big match that I play,” the Serb had added.

Nadal, who will be at Rod Laver Arena for the men’s final on Sunday said he would be supporting Alcaraz while reserving respect for his old rival.

“If Novak wins, I will be happy for him because in some ways, it is spectacular what he’s doing at this stage of his career,” Nadal said.

“So I will be happy, it will not be a drama for me. But if I have to support someone, I feel I have to support Carlos.”