Novak Djokovic one step closer to Australian Open title by beating Carlos Alcaraz

Just when one might begin to assume that Novak Djokovic is finally beginning to slow down a bit, he reminds tennis fans that he is still capable of greatness. At the Wimbledon final in 2024, Carlos Alcaraz dominated the Serb, and there appeared to be a clear change of the guard atop men's tennis. Djokovic was out, and Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were in.

Not so fast. Djokovic defeated Alcaraz later in the month to win the Paris Olympics for men's tennis. The victory allowed the Serb to achieve the Golden Slam. He had won all four Grand Slams, plus the Olympics. Tellingly, though, his defeat of Alcaraz proved the Serb was not yet done.

He proved it again in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open just past midnight on Wednesday. After dropping a tight first set, Djokovic reeled off the next three sets. He will next face Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. Zverev is playing excellent tennis, but Djokovic has shown he cannot be discounted against any player not named Jannik Sinner.

Novak Djokovic takes out Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Australian Open

The biggest difference in the match came on Alcaraz's second serve. The Serb pounced, winning 22 of the Spaniard's 33 second serves. But Djokovic also showed why he is likely the greatest returner in the history of the sport. Alcaraz landed 74 percent of his first serves but won just 67 percent of those points.

Both players played fairly clean games, however. Alcaraz was the more aggressive player, which should come as no surprise, and he had 50 winners against 40 unforced errors. Djokovic was 31 and 27, respectively. Both played well enough to defeat most other players on the ATP tour, which implies Djokovic is a real threat to win his 11th title in Melbourne.

Djokovic increased his head-to-head lead over Alcaraz to 5-3. This includes winning four of the last times they have met.

The other quarterfinal matches will see Ben Shelton take on Lorenzo Sonego and Jannik Sinner face Alex de Minaur. The winners of those matches will be the semifinal opposite Djokovic versus Zverev. Sinner won the 2024 Australian Open.

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