Insane drama at the Rod Laver Arena. The 10-time AO champion, Novak Djokovic had a shaky start to his QF match against Carlos Alcaraz. He lost the first set by 4-6, however, he made a strong comeback in the second set and won it by 6-4. Things are all well-poised for the third set. Who’ll clinch this one? However, amid all these, we saw a bit of controversy during the match. Carlos Alcaraz was seen complaining about something to the chair umpire. He looked a bit unhappy with something. What was it, though?

Well, during the second set, there was a moment when we saw Carlos Alcaraz complaining to the chair umpire about her being influenced by Novak Djokovic. He argued with the umpire over a let call. What exactly had happened, though? Well, the incident took place when Novak Djokovic was serving at 3-1 in the second set. After seeing the chair umpire making that let call, Alcaraz was seen fuming at the match official over the time being taken during his serves following a let.

Although he admitted that it was a let call, Alcaraz felt that the call was made after the Serb had stopped. He was heard yelling, “It was five seconds late. It’s crazy. I know it’s let, but you stopped when he stopped.” After seeing all these dramas, the commentators were seen giving a nod to Alcaraz. One of them said, “He is not happy because he thinks the umpire has been influenced by Djokovic stopping at that point.” Then another commentator said, “I don’t think Djokovic is too thrilled with Alcaraz asking that question.” Is it the first time that we’ve seen Carlos Alcaraz losing his cool during the 2025 AO, though?

It is a very rare thing to see one of the nicest guys in the tennis world, Carlos Alcaraz losing his cool during a match. However, perhaps the Melbourne heat is playing a big role here as well! Because we’ve now seen Alcaraz losing his cool in two consecutive matches. Even during his previous match against Jack Draper, we saw Alcaraz venting out his anger towards the chair umpire as he was left baffled by the use of the 25 service shot clock.

He expressed his dislike for the 25-second serve shot to the chair umpire Fergus Murphy by saying, “It is crazy. I finished the game, I finished the point, I went to the towel. I didn’t take too much time. Just 15 seconds. It’s crazy. I don’t have time to go to the towel… you know I’m ready.You were the only one. In four matches, you are the only one to say no after the game.”

After seeing all these scenes, we saw Aussie legend, Lleyton Hewitt showing his support for Alcaraz. The Spaniard was seen having a lengthy chat with Murphy for the entirety of the break but it didn’t seem to have taken any significant toll on either his concentration levels or even his overall performance. Unfortunately, the match ended at 7-5,6-1 in favor of Carlos Alcaraz after Draper was forced to retire from the match due to an injury. 

Keeping all these controversies aside for a bit and re-shifting our focus in this heavy-weight clash, let’s check out what the tennis experts saying on this mega duel. This is Novak Djokovic’s eighth meeting with Carlos Alcaraz, and both of them are showing some mighty grit in this match at the moment.

Former ATP star showcases his concern about Novak Djokovic in this mega duel against Carlos Alcaraz

Novak Djokovic is currently aiming to reach his 50th major SF. If the Serb wins this match, he’s all set to face the German superstar, Alexander Zverev. After missing out on his chance of clinching a major title in the 2024 season, Djokovic will be keen to make things turn around right at the start of the season. On the other hand, Carlos Alcaraz has never won against Novak Djokovic on the hard courts. The Spaniard is also eyeing to become the youngest player to complete the Career Grand Slam, having triumphed at the US Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open in the last few years.

If he wins this match, he’ll become the second player in the Open Era to reach the SF at all four major tournaments at the age of 21 or under, joining Novak Djokovic who accomplished this feat at the age of 20 when he won his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 AO. Currently, Alcaraz is trailing Djokovic in the H2H record by 3-4. Can the world number 7 stop the in-form Spaniard?

According to the former Wimbledon champion, Peter Cash, “Novak has been playing well but he’s going to have to raise his game. On this form, Alcaraz will win the match, but champions do raise their level and we’ve seen that from Djokovic time and time again.” He further added, “It is not often that Djokovic is an underdog in Melbourne, it’s probably been 15 years since he was.”

Even Andy Roddick shared his thoughts about his match. What according to Roddick, could seal the deal for the Serb against Alcaraz? “That’s what Novak’s doing and he’s great at it – switching directions, keeping space between. So when Carlos unloads in the forehand, making sure he does it from even six inches or a foot further back than he normally would. All those little miniature wins matter over the course of time in this matchup,” said the American. Currently, Novak Djokovic is inches away from securing his spot in the SF. Do you think he can win the AO title this year?