Carlos Alcaraz seemingly had doubts about Novak Djokovic's injury

You don't win a record-tying 24 Grand Slam singles titles without legendary skills, and Novak Djokovic certainly has them in spades as arguably the greatest player ever in men's tennis.

You also don't win that many majors without employing some gamesmanship to give yourself an advantage, however slight it may be.

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Carlos Alcaraz acknowledged the greatness of Novak Djokovic after falling short in their Australian Open quarterfinal that lasted until 1 a.m. Melbourne time on Wednesday. However, the 21-year-old Spaniard also seemed to suggest his opponent was playing some mind games in Djokovic's 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

During the first set, Djokovic grabbed his left thigh and crouched down to stretch it out, and he took a medical timeout to have his thigh taped. The 37-year-old Serbian continued to play on, moving around the court with a noticeable limp.

The injury wasn't debilitating enough to stop Djokovic's march to the semifinals. He won the next two sets to take control of the match, and during the changeover after the third set, Alcaraz appeared to express some doubt about his opponent when he mimicked Djokovic's leg injury by grabbing the back of his leg and pretending to be in pain while sitting down.

ESPN's broadcast crew agreed with Alcaraz's apparent insinuation about Djokovic's questionable compromised condition.

"You can see the frustration," analyst James Blake said of Alcaraz. "He's kind of limping around as if he's (hurt) and he gets up and does it again."

"That's what I would do if I was playing him," analyst John McEnroe added. "I'd be going right at Novak and be like, 'Hey man, come on!'"

Afterward, Djokovic said painkillers from the tournament doctor helped him get past Alcaraz for the fifth time in their eight career meetings. The seventh-seeded Djokovic will face second-seeded Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday.

“If I lost that second set, I don’t know if I would continue playing,” Djokovic said.

Alcaraz admitted that Djokovic's injury, whether it was real or fake, affected his mindset early in the match. He regretted not being more aggressive to "push" Djokovic "to the limit."

“Well, honestly I felt like I was controlling the match, and I let him get into the match again," Alcaraz told reporters. "I'm going to say that was the biggest mistake that I made today."

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