Alcaraz Regrets Not Putting More Pressure On Djokovic When He Was Injured
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Carlos Alcaraz lost his quarter-final match at the 2025 Australian Open to Novak Djokovic, and he was visibly disappointed after the loss.
Alcaraz was one of the favorites to win the first major of the season, but that was only until he ran into Djokovic. Despite struggling with an injury at the end of the first set, Djokovic sensationally won the match in four sets.
At the end of the first set, when Alcaraz won six of the last eight games played, it seemed that he was in complete control of the match, especially since his opponent was struggling physically.
The Spaniard was controlling the match, and he managed to exploit Djokovic's hindered movement, which helped him to win points even more easily.
Still, the Serbian legend found a way. Djokovic started playing more aggressively, and suddenly, Alcaraz struggled to find responses to the questions that were being asked.
As a result, he lost the match, which left him very sad. The 21-year-old couldn't hide his disappointment during the post-match press conference, as he regretted mistakes made in the match.
According to Alcaraz, the biggest mistake was that after he won the first set when Djokovic was struggling, he let the Serbian back into the match.
"Well, honestly, I felt like I was controlling the match, and I let him get into the match again. I'm going to say that was the biggest mistake that I made today."
"In the second set I had to play a little bit better just to push him even more to the limit. Yeah, you saw that he had issues just moving a little bit in the second set. I had to push him a little bit more just to the limit, and I didn't. I didn't do it."
After Djokovic was able to win the second set, the match started from the scratch again, and with the momentum on his side, the Serbian player was able to surf the victorious wave and feed of the energy from the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena.
Alcaraz noticed that Djokovic's level significantly improved, and at that point, it became even more difficult for him to challenge the 37-year-old.
"After that, I think he started to feel better and playing at such a great level. That was my biggest mistake today. But obviously, when Novak is at this level, it's really difficult."
Alcaraz knows he had chances to win the match, quite a few of them, but ultimately, the experience prevailed over the youth.
"I think I had my chances. It was a really close match. I think most of the crucial points, it went to his side. I mean, when Novak is playing at this level, it's really difficult to find the way."
The Spanish player will now want to forget this loss and prepare for the next part of this season. In 2025, he chose not to travel to South America for the Golden swing. Instead, his next tournament will be the Rotterdam Open, running from February 3rd to 9th.
