Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic held one of the most interesting rivalries of the last few years. Before the irruption of Jannik Sinner, it was the Serbian the only one capable of holding back the breakthrough talent of the young Spaniard, both frequently switching sides between World No. 1 and 2. The rivalry reached its peak last summer, when Alcaraz defeated Djokovic on Wimbledon, but the Serbian got his sweet revenge at Paris Olympics final.
Since then, Djokovic dissolved a bit, as it became clear the future will be defined by the rivalry between Alcaraz (22 years old) and Sinner (24). Djokovic, who turned 38 last May, rationed his efforts to focus only on Grand Slams, reaching semi-finals in Australian, Roland Garros and Wimbledon 2025 (withdrawing in Australia and being defeated by Sinner the other two occasions).
This time, however, Djokovic will cross with Alcaraz, after both players comfortably defeated their quarter-finals rivals: Alcaraz won Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 and Djokovic, with a few more struggles, extended his perfect head to head record with Taylor Fritz (11-0!) in a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win.
On Friday, September 5 (time TBD), Djokovic and Alcaraz will face for the ninth time. Djokovic leads the head to head with 5 wins, including one in 2025, where Djokovic defeated Alcaraz at Australian quarter-final.
Today, Wednesday, we will know the other two semi-finalists: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Alex de Miñaur at 17:30 CEST, 16:30 BST, and Jannik Sinner vs. Lorenzo Musetti at 2:10 CEST, 1:10 BST (of Thursday). Will we have a third Alcaraz-Sinner Grand Slam final in a row, or will somebody else stand up?