Djokovic to play Alcaraz in quarterfinals at Australian Open | Tennis news

Irrepressible 10-time champion Novak Djokovic set up an Australian Open quarter-final with Carlos Alcaraz after downing Czech Jiri Lehecka.

The 37-year-old Serb, who is gunning for a record 25th Grand Slam title, beat the 24th seed 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.

It sent him into the last eight at Melbourne Park for the 15th time, a record he now shares with Roger Federer and one ahead of Rafael Nadal and John Newcombe.

The win also extended his own all-time mark to 61 for most quarter-final appearances in the majors, three ahead of the Swiss great.

His reward is a showdown on Tuesday with third seed Carlos Alcaraz, who is already a four-time Slam winner at 21 but has never gone beyond the Australian Open quarter-finals.

“We had a lot of long battles, long exchanges,” said Djokovic, who stayed only very briefly for the post-match interview on court, his hasty retreat receiving some boos from the crowd.

“The kind of matches I played against him remind me of my match-ups versus Nadal in terms of intensity and energy on the court.

“He’s a very dynamic and explosive player. Incredibly talented. Charismatic player. Great to watch – not so great to play against,” he added with a smile.

Spain’s Alcaraz set up a meeting with Djokovic after Britain’s Jack Draper retired during their last 16 match when he lost 7-5, 6-1.

“Being in a quarterfinal, I have to approach the match like I did in the previous matches against him, and we’ll see,” said Alcaraz of Djokovic.

“When we see him play, he looks like he’s young again, so … It’s unbelievable. He’s in really good shape.”

But Alcaraz added: “I’m just ready and I know what I’m going to do in the quarterfinals.”

Djokovic and Alcaraz have met seven times, with the Serb leading 4-3, including a win in their last meeting in the final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

They have crossed paths at Grand Slams three times, twice in the Wimbledon decider with the Spaniard winning on both occasions.

But they never played at Melbourne Park, where Djokovic achieved his greatest success.

Djokovic dominates as Alcaraz gets an early pass

Lehecka won the event at the Brisbane International, where Djokovic lost in the quarter-finals, but was never seriously in the reckoning on the big stage.

Djokovic immediately put pressure on his serve and got a break in the eighth game of set one when the Czech served a double fault.

Another break on Lehecka’s opening serve set the tone for set two, with Djokovic dominating from the baseline.

The young Czech switched tactics in a tighter set of three, pushing Djokovic to the net more as he picked up his serve intensity.

It went to a tiebreak where the Serb produced some stunning shots to seal the win.

Against Draper, Alcaraz was well on top when the Brit pulled out the pin on a sweltering afternoon due to “multiple areas really in pain”.

The 15th seed Draper needed five sets to win his first three Melbourne matches, rallied from behind in all of them to stay in the tournament, and finally got it.

“It’s not the way I wanted to win. But obviously, I’m happy to play another quarterfinal here in Australia,” said Alcaraz.

“Physically, I feel good. So coming to the second week of a Grand Slam, it’s important to feel good physically because now the matches are even harder.