Novak Djokovic could not chase his 11th Australian Open title this week. The 37-year-old experienced a torn muscle in his left thigh in the quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz and retired after losing the opening set of the semi-final clash with Alexander Zverev.

It could be tempting to write off Novak Djokovic at this point, to think he might be closer than ever to being done competing for Grand Slam titles and closer than ever to retirement, where his greatest on-court rivals — Roger Federer,

The rise of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz vanquished Djokovic's inevitability at the Australian Open, but he is still the main character.