Novak Djokovic defeated rival Carlos Alcaraz in the 2025 Australian Open quarterfinals with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory at Rod Laver Arena.

The 3-hour, 37-minute match — which started Tuesday and ended on Wednesday in Melbourne — gave Djokovic the title of the first men’s player in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach at least 50 Grand Slam singles semifinals. Djokovic said after the win: “I just wish that this match today was the final. It was one of the most epic matches I’ve played on this court. On any court. Thank you all for staying at 1 a.m. to watch us and support the players.”

The No. 7 ranked Serbian, who dropped his first set while battled through an undisclosed injury to rally and win the next three, totaled 27 unforced errors and converted 6 of 13 break point opportunities, compared to 40 unforced errors and a 4 of 11 conversion rate from Alcaraz. Alcaraz said after his loss: “I felt like I was controlling the match, but I let him get into the match again. That was the biggest mistake I made today. In the second set, I had to play a little better to push him more to the limit. … And I didn’t do it. After that, he started to play better.”

Djokovic said he injured his left leg and took medication to address the issue, but did not elaborate on the injury because he didn’t want to give any advantage to his next opponent, No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who beat No. 11 Tommy Paul of the U.S. in another quarterfinal Tuesday in Melbourne. Djokovic has an 8-4 record in his career meetings with the German.

No. 20 Ben Shelton of the United States will face No. 55 Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the third men’s quarterfinal Wednesday at Melbourne Park; with the other quarterfinal to feature No. 1 seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy and No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia. The winners from those quarterfinals will meet in the other men’s semifinal for a chance to face Djokovic or Zverev in the men’s finale.

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