Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz, Australian Open 2025 Highlights: Novak outclasses the Spaniard to reach semi-final

Earlier, Alcaraz clinched the first set 6-4 here as he came from behind to clinch it. Minutes after Djokovic returns from his medical timeout, with his groin taped, Alcaraz serves out the first set with a blistering 190 km/h ace, perfectly placed to leave the 24-time Grand Slam champion no chance of a return. The two superstars are putting up a show here with some high-quality tennis on display. Novak Djokovic took the early advantage, but Carlos Alcaraz soon matched the beats to level it 2-2. The quarter-final has lived up to the hype so far. It is a proper heavyweight clash to decide one spot in the men's singles semi-finals of the 2025 Australian Open as 10-time champion Novak Djokovic faces third seed Carlos Alcaraz. The 37-year-old Djokovic, seeded seventh, is chasing his 25th Grand Slam title while 21-year-old Alcaraz, already a winner of four Majors, is looking to make it past the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career.

Alcaraz had lost in the quarterfinals of last year's Australian Open as well, losing to Alexander Zverev. Djokovic has a 4-3 edge in matches with Alcaraz and beat the Spaniard in the Paris Olympics final in their last meeting. However, Alcaraz won their last two Slam encounters, the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon finals.

Having looked almost invincible at various points in the last five years, it has been a comparatively shaky road to the quarterfinals in Melbourne this year for Djokovic. He was pushed in the first round to four sets by the unheralded Nishesh Basavareddy and by 24th seed Jiri Lehecka forced a tie-breaker in the last set of Djokovic's fourth round match. At the end of that clash, Djokovic walked passed Jim Courier without doing the customary post-match on-court interview as a protest against "disrespect" shown by a senior Australian presenter working for the host broadcaster. There is almost always something more than tennis whenever Djokovic is involved and it is no different this year.

Alcaraz is wary that there is still life in the ageing Djokovic yet, on the veteran's favourite court where he has lifted the trophy 10 times. "When we are seeing him playing, he seems like he's young again, it's unbelievable. He's in really good shape," said Alcaraz.

Meanwhile, Djokovic said he was expecting a "big battle" against the heir to Spanish legend and former fellow Big 3 member Rafael Nadal. "We had some long battles, long exchanges. The kind of matches that I played against him remind me of my match-ups versus Nadal in terms of the intensity and the energy on the court," said the Serb.