Day 10 at the Australian Open in 2025 was far behind normal thanks to the usual epic quarterfinal match. Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcalaz. The two have developed a bit of on-court rivalry over the past few years, with the 21-year-old Alcaraz continuing to solidify his talent and chops, while the 37-year-old continues to fight tennis rackets and cynical youkai of time.
Djokovic took the lead on Tuesday. While Alkaraz was filming the first set, Djokovic yelled Alkaraz in the next three sets, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic advances to the semi-finals, where he faces the second seed Alexander Zverev on friday.
The Australian opening is Djokovic’s playground. He is more successful than any other major, winning 10 of 24 Grand Slam trophies in Melbourne. He knows the courts, knows the crowds, and most importantly, he knows himself. The rise of young, talented and charming stars like Alkaraz and Giannik Sinner can make Djokovic’s Suntime seem to be over, but he is clearly not ready to enter the Twilight of his career yet. He’s defeating super gift players like his junior 16-year-old Alcaraz.
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The Big 3 era is over. However, Djokovic’s days are still strong.
Djokovic defeated a major obstacle to his path on the 10th day, but it was bad for the Americans at the Australian Open. Five Americans overall made it to the quarterfinals, but the best seeded women and men lost on Tuesday.
No. 3 seed Coco Gouf I saw her Australian Open Journey approaching the end with her loss to No. 11 Paula Badosa A straight set. Gouf wasn’t overwhelmed by Badosa, but he didn’t play nicely. She provided six double faults and had 41 forced errors compared to two double faults in Badosa and 23 forced errors.
Tommy Paulseeded in 12th place, lost, beaten to the second species, hunting his first major trophy with great strength. Zverev defeated Paul 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0), 2-6 and 6-1 in a tense and tense match. Zverev ruled both tiebreaks to win sets 1 and 2, but Paul came out and ruled Zverev in the third set. But Zverev, who could play like a natural force, returned and slammed his fourth fast victory to play the match.
Female No. 1 seed Alina Sabalenka Defeated No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkovabut not without some issues. Sabalenka won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, but dropped the first set of the entire tournament. And it wasn’t close either. For the first time at the Australian opening in 2025, Sabalenka was overwhelmed and overtaken. Pavlyuchenkova was unable to make a big dent on the set she lost, but shows that Sabalenka’s advantage could break in the right situation.
The remaining three Americans will then play their quarter-final matches. No. 19 Madison Keys No. 28 Elina Svitolina, No. 8 is Emma Navarro No. 2 fights Iga Swiatek. Swiatek is as dominant as Sabalenka, making it a tough match for Navarro. Swiatek’s opponent in her final three matches won in a total of four games. On the man’s side, number 21 Ben Shelton Faced with unseeded Lorenzo Sonego. If Shelton wins, he will play in his first career Grand Slam semi-final since the 2023 US Open.
