Andrea Petkovic claims Novak Djokovic did something to Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open which she’d never seen happen before

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Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz faced off in one of this year’s Australian Open’s most exciting matches.

Anytime Djokovic and Alcaraz play one another at a Grand Slam tournament it’s must-see TV, and that was certainly the case in Melbourne earlier this month.

Djokovic beat Alcaraz in four sets to advance to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Djokovic did, however, suffer an injury against Alcaraz, which later saw him retire from his semi-final match with Alexander Zverev after losing a first-set tiebreaker.

The ATP star faces a spell on the side-lines as he recovers from injury, with one former-top ten star now saying what she noticed about the Serb during his quarter-final match.

Andrea Petkovic says she saw Carlos Alcaraz outplayed for the ‘first time’ against Novak Djokovic in Australia

Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, former world number seven Andrea Petkovic gave her thoughts on Djokovic and Alcaraz’s Australian Open clash.

“I think it was the first time that I have seen Carlos Alcaraz outplayed,” she said.

“When he is playing his best tennis he is usually the best player because he has much more variety and all the shots in the book.

“He is the only player who has beaten Jannik Sinner three times, who is by far the best player of the last 16 months, so clearly he has something.

“So obviously Alcaraz when he is good, he is the most complete player.

“He played well, yes, he can play better, but Novak [Djokovic] didn’t really let him.

“He was changing directions so early in the point it was unbelievable, he was so good.”

The pair thrilled fans with three and a half hours of exhilarating action on Rod Laver Arena, before the ten-time champion eventually came out on top.

Petkovic went on to explain how much she enjoys watching the Spaniard play, regardless of the result.

“That is what I love about watching Carlos,” she said.

“He is being beaten but he still oozes joy and it makes me think of why we all started playing in the first place is because we love the game.

“Sometimes we forget when we are in the day to day grind, and Carlos always reminds me of it, so that’s why I love watching him play and love him as a great human being.

“But what I particularly liked was that in the fourth set he started [trying] other things, Novak was just too good.”

Is Novak Djokovic the only player who can ‘outplay’ Carlos Alcaraz?

Petkovic argued that she saw Alcaraz outplayed for the first time in his Australian Open quarter-final match with Djokovic, but does anyone else have the edge over the Spaniard?

Only one other player in the ATP top ten has a positive head-to-head record against the 21-year-old, as he continues to express dominance over his rivals.

Zverev has won six of his 11 meetings with Alcaraz, as he and Djokovic remain the only two players in the top ten to lead their head-to-heads with the four-time Major champion.

Similarly to Djokovic, Zverev beat Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 2024, coming through in four sets just as the Serb did this January.

The result was Zverev’s second win over Alcaraz at a Grand Slam tournament, having beaten him in the quarter-finals of the French Open two years earlier.

Alcaraz is currently sat one spot below Zverev in the world rankings, and will no doubt hope to hunt him down over the next few months, as he looks to add to his 36 weeks spent as number one.

• Rank 2 – Alexander Zverev (8,135 points)
• Rank 3 – Carlos Alcaraz (7,010 points)

Due to the pair’s differing schedules throughout February, Zverev and Alcaraz will not play at the same tournament as one another until Indian Wells, which begins on Sunday, March 2.