Novak Djokovic is 38 and bidding for a 25th Slam title. He faces Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic is 38 and trying to conquer a younger man’s game as he heads into the U.S. Open semifinals on Friday. It’s been two years since his most recent Grand Slam title, which — to him — must feel like an eternity.

Last season was his first without earning at least one since 2017. And Djokovic is clear that, at this point in his career, those big trophies from the sport’s four biggest events are all he really cares about.

At this year’s three other major tournaments, he exited in the semifinals, two after getting hurt: quitting at the Australian Open because of a torn hamstring and clearly limited at Wimbledon by an injured groin muscle. He hadn’t competed anywhere since leaving the All England Club in July until arriving at Flushing Meadows.

Novak Djokovic faces Carlos Alcaraz next, possibly Jannik Sinner after that

Now Djokovic is back in the final four in New York, and there’s a daunting road ahead. Next up is No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who is 22. Win that, and a final on Sunday against No. 1 Jannik Sinner, 23, could await, if the defending champion beats Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals and whoever his semifinal opponent is.

After reaching a 53rd major semifinal, and 14th at the U.S. Open, by eliminating No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz, 27, in four sets Tuesday night, Djokovic fiddled with his beard while pondering what’s to come.

“Well, it’s not going to get easier, I’ll tell you that,” he said with a wry smile. “I’m going to try to take one day at a time. Really take care of my body. Try to relax and recover. The next couple of days is really key for me to really get my body in shape and ready to battle five sets, if it’s needed. I just would really love that.”

Djokovic has been to 37 Slam finals and won 24 — but none at age 38

Djokovic already owns nearly every record of any significance in men’s tennis, including 24 major championships, 37 major final appearances and the most weeks at No. 1 in the rankings.

And so on.

What’s new for him is adjusting to contending at this age.

“Normally I like to play the big matches on a big stage. It’s just that I’m not really sure how the body is going to feel in the next few days. But I’m going to do my very best with my team to be fit for that,” Djokovic said. “There’s going to be a lot of running involved, that’s for sure. It’s not going to be short points.”

Djokovic is 5-3 against US Open semifinal opponent Alcaraz

He owns a 5-3 head-to-head mark against Alcaraz, who has won five Slam titles already and combined with Sinner to claim the last seven and nine of the past 12.

Not to be forgotten: The other three in that span went to Djokovic, most recently at the 2023 U.S. Open.

“I have another chance, another shot. Hopefully … I can be fit enough and play well enough to keep up with Carlos,” Djokovic said. “Then it can be anybody’s match.”

Djokovic won the two most recent meetings against the dynamic Alcaraz — in the Australian Open quarterfinals this January and in the gold-medal final at the Paris Olympics last year.

“I really want revenge,” Alcaraz said. “That’s obvious.”

Alcaraz reached the final at his past 7 tournaments, winning 5 titles

Alcaraz has been preposterously dominant over the past 1 1/2 weeks, not dropping a set in the tournament, and for much of 2025, leading the tour with six titles and a 59-6 record.

Since April, he is 43-2, winning tournaments at Monte-Carlo, Rome, Roland-Garros, Queen’s Club and Cincinnati. The two losses came in finals — at Barcelona (against Holger Rune) and Wimbledon (against Sinner).

Djokovic knows what Alcaraz and Sinner have done lately.

“We don’t need to spend words about the two of them. We know that they are two best players in the world,” said Djokovic, who lost to Sinner in the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon. “Everybody is probably expecting and anticipating (a U.S. Open final) between the two of them. I’m going to try to mess up the plans of most of the people.”

And then Djokovic added: “I definitely am not going with a white flag on the court.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis