Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have waged their share of primetime battles over the last four years, but somehow, their paths never crossed at the U.S. Open.
Until now.
Alcaraz, 22, and Djokovic, 38, are set to square off in the semifinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday afternoon in a marquee matchup between two of tennis’ top stars.
“I’ve played a lot of times against him,” Alcaraz said. “I really want to [get] revenge. That’s obvious.”
Alcaraz seeks revenge, of course, after Djokovic defeated him in the Australian Open quarterfinals in January. Djokovic dropped the first set of that match, then won the next three to pull off the upset.
That improved Djokovic’s all-time record against Alcaraz to 5-3, including 3-0 on hard courts. Djokovic has won two matches in a row against Alcaraz, having also beaten him in the final at the Paris Olympics last summer.
“We all know Novak’s game,” Alcaraz said. “It doesn’t matter that he has been out of the tour since Wimbledon. [He is] playing great matches here. I know he’s hungry. I know his ambition for more.”
Friday’s match marks an intersection of eras, with the battle-tested Djokovic the last remaining from tennis’ bygone “Big Three” and the ascendant Alcaraz on track to dominate the next decade the way Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did before him.
Alcaraz, the world’s No. 2 player, enters Friday’s match as the favorite, having yet to drop a set through five matches at Flushing Meadows.
The Spaniard’s elite mobility, athleticism and ingenuity was on full display as he delivered highlight after highlight in Tuesday afternoon’s tidy 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals.
But Djokovic continues to more than hold his own as a No. 7 seed, as evidenced by his hard-fought 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over No. 4 Taylor Fritz under the lights at Ashe on Tuesday.
“I would love to be fit enough to play potentially five sets with Carlos. I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I’d rise to the occasion,” Djokovic said.
“Normally, I like to play the big matches on a big stage. It’s just that I’m not really sure how the body is going to feel in the next few days. But I’m going to do my very best with my team to be fit for that. There’s going to be a lot of running involved, that’s for sure. It’s not going to be short points.”
Djokovic and Alcaraz split their previous four meetings at Grand Slam tournaments. Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in back-to-back Wimbledon finals in 2023 and 2024, while Djokovic beat Alcaraz in the 2023 French Open semifinals before taking this year’s Aussie Open bout.
Alcaraz is competing for his second U.S. Open title — he won his first in 2022 — and his sixth Grand Slam crown. He also seeks redemption after suffering a shocking second-round upset to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp at last year’s Open.
Djokovic, meanwhile, seeks his fifth U.S. Open championship and his 25th Grand Slam title, which would extend an all-time record that already belongs to him. The Serbian’s last Grand Slam victory came at the U.S. Open in 2023.
Each of the seven Grand Slam tournaments since then have been won by either Alcaraz or top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy.
This year’s U.S. Open could become the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament in which Alcaraz and Sinner meet in the final, with Alcaraz claiming the French Open crown in June and Sinner winning Wimbledon the following month.
But Djokovic has other ideas.
“We know that they are two best players in the world,” Djokovic said. “Everybody is probably expecting and anticipating the finals between the two of them. I’m going to try to mess up the plans.”
Djokovic continued, “I definitely am not going with a white flag on the court. I don’t think anybody does really when they play them, but particularly not me.”
