MELBOURNE, Australia — It’s time for the eighth installment of the riveting, intergenerational rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. This one, though, will be the first at the Australian Open — and the first in the quarterfinals of a tournament; each of the others came in either a semifinal or final.
“Well, this is not the right player to play in a quarterfinal, I guess,” a grinning Alcaraz said, looking ahead to Tuesday’s encounter. “But facing Novak, for me, it’s not going to change anything if I’m playing him (in a) quarterfinal or semifinal. Probably change a little bit if it is a final, obviously. Being in a quarterfinal, I’m going to approach the match the same as I did in the previous matches against him, and let’s see.”
Alcaraz reached his 10th career Grand Slam quarterfinal, tied for the most by a man before his 22nd birthday, by advancing when 15th-seeded Jack Draper stopped playing because of a hip injury after dropping the first two sets Sunday afternoon.
Djokovic, who is being coached in Melbourne by old rival Andy Murray, did his part at night in Rod Laver Arena, needing to work a little longer but getting through just the same with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 24 Jiri Lehecka.
Djokovic smacked a ball off a wall in the third set, drawing boos and whistles from some spectators. When they made more noise moments later, chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani admonished the folks in the stands to be more polite toward the players.
Otherwise, though, Djokovic had plenty of support, from the Serbian flags in the stands to the chants of his nickname, “Nole,” that reverberated around the main stadium.
Afterward, Djokovic dispensed with the customary on-court interview, instead holding the microphone himself and telling the crowd: “Thank you very much for being here tonight. I appreciate your presence and the support. I’ll see you next round. Thank you very much.” Then he walked off.
There is plenty at stake at this tournament for both No. 3 seed Alcaraz, who is 21, and No. 7 Djokovic, who is 37.
Alcaraz seeks to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam with at least one trophy from all four of the most prestigious events in tennis. His four so far came elsewhere: two at Wimbledon by virtue of wins over Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals, and one apiece at the US Open in 2022 and the French Open last year.
Djokovic, meanwhile, is trying to claim an 11th title in Melbourne to become the first player in tennis history with 25 major singles championships. He leads the overall head-to-head against Alcaraz 4-3, including a victory in the final at the Paris Olympics last August to claim a gold medal for Serbia.
At the majors, though, Alcaraz leads 2-1.
“If I think about everything he has done in tennis, I couldn’t play. I mean, 24 Grand Slam, the most weeks at No. 1 — everything. He almost broke every record in tennis. I’m trying not to think about that when I’m in the match. I’m just trying … to beat him,” Alcaraz said. “I know my weapons. I know that (if) I’m able to play good tennis against him, I’m able to beat him.”
On Sunday, Alcaraz was ahead 7-5, 6-1 when Draper decided he couldn’t continue. He’d been dealing with physical issues after winning each of his first three matches at Melbourne Park in five sets.
“It’s not the way I want to win a match, to get through to the next round,” Alcaraz said. “Happy to play another quarterfinal here in Australia, but a little bit sad for Jack.”
Sunday’s match goes into the books as a victory for Alcaraz, his first against a top-20 opponent at the Australian Open. He pulled even with Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander for the highest number of major quarterfinal appearances before 22.
Alcaraz’s best run at Melbourne Park was getting to the quarterfinals last year, before losing at that stage to Alexander Zverev. The other quarterfinal on the bottom half of the men’s bracket will be No. 2 Zverev against 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul.
Paul needed less than 1½ hours to finish a physically diminished opponent, who sought help from a trainer. There was no turnaround this time for the 66th-ranked Davidovich Fokina, who had won each of his past two matches despite dropping the first two sets in both.
“What he did is unreal the past couple matches. … To do it twice in a row is amazing,” Paul said.
But Paul won nearly twice as many points (85-43) as his Spanish rival.
Paul’s best showing at any Grand Slam tournament was getting to the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2023. He will try to repeat that by getting past Zverev, a two-time runner-up at majors who beat No. 14 Ugo Humbert 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
