Carlos Alcaraz says he's leaving Australian Open with his head held high after hearing Novak Djokovic praise him despite loss

Carlos Alcaraz expressed that he will leave the Australian Open following his loss with his head held high after hearing Novak Djokovic praise him. This match at the Grand Slam tournament was the eighth meeting between the two on the ATP Tour, with the Serb extending his lead in their head-to-head record to 5-3.

Alcaraz was seeded third at the Melbourne Major and he defeated the likes of Alexander Shevchenko, Yoshihito Nishioka, and Nuno Borges in the first three rounds. He then advanced to the quarterfinals after his fourth-round opponent, 15th seed Jack Draper retired from their match due to injury.

Carlos Alcaraz's campaign came to an end in the quarterfinals when he was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 4-6 Novak Djokovic.

While speaking to the media after the match, the Serb was all praise about Alcaraz. When the Spaniard was asked to give his thoughts on being praised by the 24-time Grand Slam champion, he said that whenever he plays against Djokovic they always push each other to perform their best, something which he said he feels "lucky" to experience.

“I mean, every time that we play against each other, I think it's a guarantee. I mean, we push us to the limit, each other. I think we've played great points, great rallies . It was really tight the third, the fourth set. I mean, the whole match, I guess. I'm just lucky to live this experience," Carlos Alcaraz said.

The World No.3 said that the experience he is gaining from playing against one of the greatest players in tennis will benefit his future performances.

“I'm 21 years old. From these matches, I'm getting so much experience about how to deal with everything. I'm not going to hide . I've done great things in tennis already, but playing against one of the best in history of our sport, these kind of matches help me a lot in the future to be better. I'm just happy to be able to live this experience," he continued.

Carlos Alcaraz also expressed that he was "happy" being praised by Novak Djokovic. He said that this would help him leave the Australian Open with his head held high.

“Yeah, I mean, for me it's great hearing those words from someone who played historic matches, historic things. So I'm leaving here Australia with the head up. I'm really happy about hearing those words from Novak,” Carlos Alcaraz added.

Leading up to the 2025 Australian Open, Carlos Alcaraz did not participate in any preparatory events, with his last competition being representing Spain at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.

---

After defeating Carlos Alcaraz, who will Novak Djokovic face next in the Australian Open?

Djokovic and Zverev during Australian Open 2025 (Image Source: 2025)

Following his win over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, Novak Djokovic will next take on second seed Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the 2025 Australian Open. The German has reached the final four of the Grand Slam tournament three times in his career - in 2020, 2024, and now in 2025.

Zverev kicked off his Melbourne Major campaign by beating wild card Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round and he then went on to defeat Pedro Martinez 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in the second round. The World No.2 triumphed over Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, and 14th seed Ugo Humbert 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the third and fourth rounds, respectively.

In the quarterfinals, Alexander Zverev defeated 12th seed Tommy Paul 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 to secure his spot in the semifinals where he will face Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have met 12 times on the ATP Tour, with the Serb emerging victorious in eight of those matches. Their most recent encounter was in the semifinals of the 2023 Cincinnati Masters, where the former World No.1 won 7-6(5), 7-5 before going on to claim the title by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.