Carlos Alcaraz wants “revenge”. The 22-year-old Spaniard, who has been licking his wounds for quite some time now, will get a chance to settle scores with Novak Djokovic when the two face off in the semi-final of the US Open on Friday.
The world No. 2 has been outplayed by Djokovic in their last two big clashes — the Australian Open in January and last year’s gold-medal match at the Paris Olympics.
For Djokovic, the four-time champion, the task is clear — he needs to snap a run of three consecutive semi-final defeats at the grand slams in 2025. A win over Alcaraz will of course also once again take him to the brink of an elusive 25th major title.
As the two heavyweights get ready, it will be intriguing to see who aces whom.
Alcaraz stands defiant and determined to halt Djokovic. He is hungry not only to reach his first hard-court major final since 2023, but also to reclaim the No. 1 spot for the first time in two years.
“Novak, we all know Novak’s game… It doesn’t matter that he has been out of the Tour since Wimbledon. (He’s) playing great matches here. I know he’s hungry. I know his ambition for more, so let’s see,” Alcaraz was quoted as saying by atptour.com.
“I know I played a lot of times against him. I really want revenge. That’s obvious,” Alcaraz added, clearly announcing his intent.
Djokovic has portrayed contradictory pictures of himself at Flushing Meadows this time. While he looked vulnerable in the early rounds, the Serb brought out the full force of his mental and tactical game in the second week.
The 38-year-old, who has been navigating carefully as concerns over his fitness grow, made short work of Jan-Lennard Struff in the fourth round. In the quarter-final, Taylor Fritz did test him, but not enough.
But will the former No.1’s body be able to stand up to Alcaraz’s challenge?
Since finishing runner-up at the US Open 18 years ago in 2007, Djokovic has only twice failed to reach at least one major final in a season — 2009 and 2017. Alcaraz threatens to add 2025 to the list.
Already on an 11-match winning streak after lifting the Cincinnati title, Alcaraz can’t be blamed if he is super-confident. Just that, you can never rule out Novak Djokovic.
