Djokovic beats Alcaraz, closes in on 25th Grand Slam title

Melbourne, AP: Novak Djokovic refused to let anything stop his pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam trophy in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Not a problem with his left leg. Not an early deficit. And not the kid across the net, Carlos Alcaraz, who was making things difficult and eyeing his own bit of history. Djokovic overcame it all, just as he has so often along the way to so many triumphs, moving into the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the 12th time with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alcaraz in a scintillating showdown Tuesday night between a pair of stars born 16 years apart and at opposite ends of their careers. The action was non-stop, the shot-making brilliant, even as the match stretched on for more than 3 1/2 hours and nearly to 1 a.m. never more so, perhaps, than when Alcaraz saved a break point that would have put Djokovic ahead 5-2 in the fourth set, allowing him to serve for the win.

The 33-stroke exchange was the longest of the evening, and when it ended with Djokovic sailing a forehand long, the capacity crowd at Rod Laver Arena went wild. Djokovic reached for his bothersome leg and yelled toward his entourage; Alcaraz, his chest heaving, leaned on a towel box and grinned. Turned out that only delayed the final result. With his wife, son and daughter cheering in the stands, the No. 7-seeded Djokovic prevailed thanks to the sort of remarkable returning and no-mistakes-made groundstrokes against Alcaraz that now-retired rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal dealt with for years. Djokovic enjoyed some of his own best efforts in the latter stages, pointing to his ear or blowing kisses or spreading his arms while puffing out his chest. There was the forehand winner on a 22-stroke point that earned the break for a 5-3 lead in the third set.

There was that set's last point, which included a back-to-the-net sprint to chase down a lob. Alcaraz wasn't shy, either, shouting “Vamos!” and pumping his fists after one particularly booming forehand in the fourth set. On Friday, Djokovic's 50th major semifinal will come against No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, a two-time runner-up at majors who beat No. 12 Tommy Paul 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-1. The other men's quarterfinals are Wednesday: No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 8 Alex de Minaur, and No. 21 Ben Shelton against unseeded Lorenzo Sonego.

Sabalenka reaches semifinals: Aryna Sabalenka's bid for a third consecutive Australian Open championship will continue after she got past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a surprisingly difficult quarterfinal Tuesday night. The No. 1-ranked Sabalenka has now won 19 matches in a row at Melbourne Park and will face her good friend, No. 11 seed Paula Badosa, in the semifinals Thursday.

Sabalenka had run her set streak to 25 at the place dating all the way to the 2023 final when she grabbed the opener against 2021 French Open runner-up Pavlyuchenkova. But Sabalenka had a hard time harnessing her intimidating strokes on a windy evening in Rod Laver Arena until doing so down the stretch and collecting the last three games after the third set was tied at 3-all.

“Honestly,” Sabalenka said, “I was just praying.” She won her first major championship at Melbourne Park in 2023, then added another last January, before raising her total to three Grand Slam trophies at the U.S. Open last September. The last woman to win the Australian Open three straight years was Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.

Zverev complains when a feather delays play

Alexander Zverev got bothered by a bird's feather at the Australian Open and was warned for cursing during his quarterfinal against Tommy Paul. The second-seeded Zverev was down a break in the second set a set he went on to win when Paul saved two break points. With the game in the balance, chair umpire Nacho Forcadell called a let and ordered a replay of a point when he saw a white feather drop into Zverev's eyeline as the German player was in his backswing.

“What? A feather? There's millions of them on the court,” Zverev said as he approached the official while holding up the feather. Zverev grasped the net to pause for a while before going back to work, but Paul soon held serve. Zverev was already heated earlier in that game, when a spectator yelled “out” during a point. Zverev complained about it to Forcadell, who asked the crowd not to shout during points.