MELBOURNE, Australia — In a moment of exhaustion and elation, Novak Djokovic recognized Margaret Court in the crowd and thanked her for staying up so late to watch him get within a single victory of becoming the most decorated tennis player of all time.The 83-year-old Court was among the VIPs at Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic’s epic five-set win over two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in a grueling semifinal that ended after 1:30 a.m. Saturday.For now, they share the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. That could change Sunday.Djokovic’s energy-sapping win over Sinner set up a championship decider against top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, the 22-year-old Spaniard bidding to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam. Alcaraz and Sinner have combined to block Djokovic’s push for a 25th major title, splitting the last eight majors evenly between them.In his on-court interview to cap Day 13, Djokovic thanked Court for hanging around to witness him end a streak of five losses to Sinner, and also snap a run of four semifinal defeats at the Grand Slam tournaments. “Some legends stayed up to 2 a.m.!” he said. “Thank-you so much for being here.”Djokovic owns just about every record there is available to him, surpassing the marks set down by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He has one more than Serena Williams, who holds the women’s Open era record at 23.He’s made no secret of the fact he’s only in Australia for the coveted 25th.Some analysts debate the greatness of Court’s career tally because she won 13 of her 24 major singles titles before the professional Open era began in 1968.Not Djokovic. For him, the numbers speak volumes.After beating one half of the “Sincaraz” rivalry, Djokovic gets a shot at another in the 11th final of his career at Melbourne Park. He has won all 10 previously. The 38-year-old Djokovic said he was sore and tired and likely wouldn’t do much practice Saturday, prioritizing recovery. Alcaraz also said he’ll be focussing on recovery after struggling with cramps and a sore right leg in a five-set, 5-hour and 27-minute win over Alexander Zverev. It was the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open.It wasn’t the longest match ever at Melbourne Park — not surprisingly, Djokovic holds that record with his 5:53 win over Rafael Nadal in the 2012 final.Djokovic crossed paths with Alcaraz between the five-set semifinals a …
