Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will meet at the Australian Open. This time, it's a quarterfinal
Australian Open — and the first in the quarterfinals of a tournament; each of the others came in either a semifinal or final. «Well, this is not the right player to play in a quarterfinal, I guess,» a grinning Alcaraz said, looking ahead to Tuesday's encounter.
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«But facing Novak, for me, it's not going to change anything if I'm playing him (in a) quarterfinal or semifinal. Probably change a little bit if it is a final, obviously. Being in a quarterfinal, I'm going to approach the match the same as I did in the previous matches against him, and let's see.»
Alcaraz reached his 10th career Grand Slam quarterfinal, tied for the most by a man before his 22nd birthday, by advancing when 15th-seeded Jack Draper stopped playing because of a hip injury after dropping the first two sets Sunday afternoon.
Djokovic, who is being coached in Melbourne by old rival Andy Murray, did his part at night in Rod Laver Arena, needing to work a little longer but getting through just the same with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 24 Jiri Lehecka.
Djokovic smacked a ball off a wall in the third set, drawing boos and whistles from some spectators. When they made more noise moments later, chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani admonished the folks in the stands to be more polite toward the players.
