Australian Open: Between Alcaraz and Djokovic, a quarter for history

A classic for history: the quarter-final of the Australian Open between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, Tuesday around 11 a.m. Swiss time, will already be the eighth duel between the two champions. The winner will take “one more step” on the road to records.

On one side of the net, the 3rd in the world, aged 21 and in search of the only Grand Slam title missing from his record in Melbourne. If the Spaniard succeeds, he will be the youngest player in the history of tennis to have won all four major tournaments and will break a record dating from 1938.

On the other, the winner of 24 Grand Slam titles at the age of 37, a record that he shares with the maligned Australian legend Margaret Court but of which the Serb (7th in the world) would become the only holder if he triumphed in Melbourne.

“Every day after the other”

After his qualification for the quarter-finals on Sunday, and while he was not yet certain of facing Djokovic, Alcaraz affirmed that his victory against Jack Draper (ATP 18) in the eighth constituted “one more step” towards the record of precocity that he covets.

“But I take each day after the other,” immediately qualified the Spaniard, for whom the 2025 edition of the tournament is the penultimate opportunity to become the youngest winner of the four Majors (Australian Open, Roland -Garros, Wimbledon, US Open).

The youngest player to have completed his collection is the American Don Budge, winner of Roland-Garros in 1938 at 22 years and 363 days old. Alcaraz will be 21 years and 266 days old at the end of the 2025 edition of the Australian Open, according to statistics from the International Federation (ITF).

“When the draw was made, I think a lot of people were looking forward to a possible match between Alcaraz and me in the quarter-final. Here we are,” said Djokovic with relish after his victory in the round of 16 against Jiri Lehecka (ATP 29).

“It reminds me of Nadal”

Having become a tennis classic since their first mano a mano on the clay court of Madrid in the spring of 2022, won in three sets by the Spaniard, Tuesday’s duel will be the eighth between the two players. However, this match is also a first, since “Carlitos” and “Djoker” have never met in the quarter-finals of a tournament.

“He’s not the kind of ideal opponent for a quarter-final,” laughed the Spaniard, trailing 4-3 in his direct confrontations with the Serb, whom he has never beaten on hard court.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter since “in Grand Slams, from the quarter-finals to the final, the players competing are the best in the world. If it wasn’t Djokovic, it would have been other players at the top of the world rankings”, pointed out Alcaraz, who equaled his best result in Melbourne by winning his round of 16.

Djokovic for his part expects “a big battle, as has been the case in most of the matches where we have faced each other”. Apart from the final of the last Wimbledon, won in three sets by Alcaraz, or the half of the 2023 ATP Masters, won in two sets by the Serb, “we fought long fights, with long exchanges” at each of the previous duels.

“It reminds me of my matches against (his now retired ex-rival Rafael) Nadal in terms of intensity and energy on the court,” continues the ten-time winner of the Australian Open. “It’s great to watch him play, a little less to face him,” summed up Djokovic.