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Nick Kyrgios has demanded an apology for Novak Djokovic ahead of Sunday's Australian Open final against Carlos Alcaraz. The 24-time Grand Slam champion stunned two-time defending Aussie Open winner Jannik Sinner in five sets on Friday to record his first victory over the Italian in three years.

Djokovic had lost his previous five matches and nine sets against the world No.2 going into that last four clash at Melbourne Park. Sinner had also famously ended the Serb's 33-match win streak at the event on route to winning his first slam at the 2024 Australian Open.

But Djokovic gained revenge over Sinner to set up a mouth-watering final against world No.1 Alcaraz this weekend. The Serb thanked his doubters for motivating him ahead of his match against Sinner.

The 38-year-old also called out a reporter for 'disrespect' after his quarter-final win over Lorenzo Musetti, following the Italian's retirement due to injury. Djokovic clashed with the journalist at his post-match press conference for suggesting that he was now chasing Alcaraz and Sinner, as he had done with fellow greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

And Kyrgios appears to have referenced this exchange when reacting to Djokovic's thrilling victory over Sinner. He posted a picture on his Instagram stories of the Serbian celebrating during Friday's win, alongside a caption in capital letters which said: "Your apology should be as loud as your disrespect was."

The 30-year-old was once a vocal critic of Djokovic, but the pair have since been on good terms after the Aussie defended him following his deportation from Australia in 2022 over his vaccination status. Kyrgios went on to play Djokovic in the Wimbledon final later that year - losing in four sets.

Djokovic and Alcaraz have chosen to skip practice as they look to recover after their epic semi-finals on Friday. A win on Rod Laver Arena this weekend would secure the Serb a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Margaret Court. The win would also make him an 11-time champion of the tournament he first won in 2008, equalling the Aussie's record.

The 10-time champion will now have to pull off another remarkable performance to prevent Alcaraz, 22, from becoming the youngest male player to achieve the Career Grand Slam. And the veteran has referenced his quarter-final victory over the Spaniard in last year's tournament when previewing this weekend's contest in Friday's post-match press conference.

He said: "For me, I think also obviously for Carlos because of his age and everything that he was able to achieve so far, history is on the line for both of us every time we play. The finals of Grand Slam, you know, there's a lot at stake, but it's no different from, you know, any other big match that I play.

"My preparation is as it should be, and I won against him last year here, you know, also in a gruelling match. Let's see. Let's see how fresh are we both able to be. He also had a big match, but he has 15, 16 years on me. You know, biologically I think it's going to be a bit easier for him to recover.

"But, yeah, I look forward to it. Look, I play tennis competitively mainly to be able to reach the finals of Grand Slams. Here I am, so I cannot complain about anything. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment that I'm experiencing tonight. I'll think about finals later, but for me, this is win that almost equals winning a Grand Slam."