Carlos Alcaraz accused of mocking Novak Djokovic as legend makes big injury admission

Is Novak Djokovic really injured?

It's a question that has seemed to constantly arise throughout the Serbian champion's storied career on the tennis court.

None moreso than at Melbourne Park, where he has won 10 Australian Open titles and is very much now in the hunt for an 11th.

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And wouldn't you know it? Fans are once again probing the fitness of the 37-year-old as he prepares for a semi final showdown with Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic lost the first set of his quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday night in a match billed as an intergenerational blockbuster.

The veteran appeared to pull up lame towards the end of the set, and then took a timeout to receive treatment.

Alcaraz began to falter throughout the second set and then Djokovic largley dominated proceedings to win in four.

It was during the fourth set that eagle-eyed viewers and commentators spotted Alcaraz grabbing at his own thigh and limping around as Djokovic sat down at a change of ends.

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The young Spaniard was accused of basically mocking his opponent, a sign of frustration that Djokovic's injury antics had distracted him.

"You can see the frustration, he's kinda limping around … and he gets up and does it again," American great James Blake said in commetary.

"He's obviously fine, just acting like he's got some sort of an injury."

Fellow American great John McEnroe responded, "That's what I would do... If I was playing (Djokovic), I'd be like Novak right now".

Djokovic later claimed he would have retired from the match if he had lost the second set.

While he refused to reveal specifics of his injury at the post-match press conference, Djokovic did admit his medical timeout worked to his advantage in putting Alcaraz off his game.

"Look, I saw it. I saw it. I try to use that to my advantage, in a sense, to take the initiative of the rallies and his hesitation," Djokovic said.

"He was trying to play at some point quite a few dropshots and make me run. I've been in the situations, as well, where opponent's struggling with injury, but keep going. The opponent is going for everything, and then he's staying in the match. Then all of a sudden as the match progresses, the opponent feels better. You're starting to panic a bit with your game.

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"I understand the feeling.

"Look, I feel for him. I understand that it's not comfortable to play someone that you don't know if he's going to retire or not. Is he moving? Is he running? What's happening?

"I felt that he was looking at me more than he was looking at himself."

The same was said of Tomas Machac when Djokovic fell ill during their third-round match before winning in straight sets.

Alcaraz was unhappy in his press conference and admitted he was distracted by the Djokovic saga during the match.

"Honestly I felt like I was controlling the match, and I let him get into the match again. I'm going to say that's was the biggest mistake that I made today," Alcaraz said.

"I think everybody saw in the second set he's struggling a little bit to moving. Then the

third and fourth set, I didn't see anything bad from him.

"So I'm not saying, like, he made a show. I just saying that, I don't know. It's obvious and everybody saw it that he's struggling in the second set. Then the third and fourth set he showed he was really good."

Djokovic will take on German star Zverev for a spot in the tournament decider.