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NOVAK Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz renew their epic rivalry in a blockbuster Australian Open quarter-final clash in Melbourne.
Djokovic, 37, and Alcaraz, 21, meet for the eighth time, in their first match since the Serbian’s historic victory in the Olympic final at Roland Garros last summer.
Djokovic is bidding to become the oldest grand slam champion of all time as he targets a 25th title in Melbourne.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, can become the youngest man to complete the career grand slam if he goes all the way.
The Spaniard has triumphed in their last two matches at the grand slam level, which both came in Wimbledon finals.
When is Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz?
The match takes place on Tuesday 21 January and has been scheduled last on Rod Laver Arena, and will follow the women’s quarter-final between Aryna Sabalenka and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The night session on Rod Laver Arena begins at 8am GMT, so Djokovic and Alcaraz could expect to take the court at around 9:30am. However, it could be slightly earlier or later depending on the previous match involving Sabalenka.
Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz head to head
This will be the eighth match between Djokovic and Alcaraz and their fourth over best of five sets.
Djokovic currently leads the head to head with four wins to three, and won their last meeting in an epic victory at the Olympics final.
While Alcaraz’s previous two wins over Djokovic have come in the Wimbledon final, in 2023 and 2024, this will be their first grand slam match played on a hard court, following a French Open semi-final in 2023.
What has Novak Djokovic said about Carlos Alcaraz?
“I’m expecting a big battle, as it’s the case in most of our matches where we faced each other. Maybe just couple times it was quite one-sided Wimbledon finals last year, he was the dominant force on the court. I had a really good match against him in the World Tour Finals in 2023.
“Other than that, we had some long battles, long exchanges kind of matches that I played against him.
Remind me of my matchups versus Nadal in terms of the intensity and the energy on the court.
“He’s very dynamic, explosive player. Incredibly talented. Charismatic player. Great to watch; not that great to play against.”
What has Carlos Alcaraz said about Novak Djokovic? — theindependent.co.uk
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