Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic Half 8 is on!
As anticipated when the draw ceremony was performed a few weeks in the past, Alcaraz and Djokovic will sq. off within the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday evening. It marks their eighth assembly, and what a rivalry it has been up to now.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head collection 4-3 after profitable an epic Paris Olympics gold-medal match in a pair of tiebreakers final summer time. Alcaraz has gained each of their accomplished Grand Slam encounters, each within the Wimbledon last–a thriller in 2023 and a beatdown in 2024. Djokovic has gained each of their earlier hard-court conferences, one indoors and one open air.
It’s also robust to separate these two opponents based mostly on present kind. Alcaraz has been respectable up to now in Melbourne after struggling towards the tip of final season. The third-ranked Spaniard dropped a set to Nuno Borges in spherical three however for essentially the most half has cruised. Djokovic surrendered a set to each Nishesh Basavareddy and Jaime Faria earlier than crushing Tomas Machac and Jiri Lechecka.
The one clear distinction is historical past at Melbourne Park. Djokovic is a laughable 98-9 lifetime at this occasion with 10 titles. For Alcaraz, it’s his worst of the 4 Grand Slams. The pattern dimension is comparatively small, after all, however he has by no means reached the semis Down Beneath and that is solely his second look within the quarters.
The underside line is that I’m not betting towards Djokovic on the Aussie Open…not less than not towards anybody apart from Jannik Sinner.
Decide: Djokovic in 5
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and in addition maintains his personal tennis web site, The Grandstand. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter at @Dimonator.
