Novak Djokovic’s decision to focus on breaking the all-time slams record is about to come back to bite him, as the difficulty of his Australian Open draw comes into focus.
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The 24-time slam champion, who is trying to win a record-extending 11th title at Melbourne Park, played less tennis than many of his rivals did in 2024 while failing to win a slam. Instead they were split between Jannik Sinner (Australian, US) and Carlos Alcaraz (French, Wimbledon).
That saw Djokovic come into the 2025 Australian Open only seeded seventh, his lowest ranking in years, dating back to when he was returning from a career-threatening elbow injury.
And it means if he downs Czech No.24 seed Jiri Lehecka in tonight’s fourth-round, he will earn an incredibly difficult quarter final against No.3 seed Alcaraz.
Alcaraz won the opening two sets against an exhausted Jack Draper before the Brit retired hurt on a hot day at Melbourne Park.
While Alcaraz vs Djokovic is a dream match-up for promoters, it’s something the Serb could have avoided if he had earned enough ranking points across the year to be placed in the top four, as he usually is.
The top four seeds cannot face each other until the semi-finals and Djokovic usually enjoys this benefit.
Instead Alex Zverev (the No.2 seed) has a relatively standard path to the semi-finals, with the German currently facing Ugo Humbert; the winner to face Tommy Paul.
Zverev cruised through his first set over Humbert 6-1, breaking the Frenchman three times in the opener.
Taylor Fritz (the No.4 seed) had what looked like an easy draw before stumbling on Saturday against Gael Monfils.
Fritz’s loss means one of Monfils, Ben Shelton, Lorenzo Sonego or qualifier Learner Tien will be a shock semi-finalist, while it’s guaranteed at least one of Djokovic and Alcaraz won’t be.
The big winner out of the draw, as predicted by Foxsports.com.au on the day itself, was Jannik Sinner with the defending champion facing few stumbling blocks on his path to the final.
Sinner faces Denmark’s No.13 seed Holger Rune in his fourth-round match on Monday, and then would face either No.8 seed Alex de Minaur or Alex Michelsen in a quarter-final, and one of Monfils, Shelton (the only seed of this group at No.21), Sonego or Tien in a semi-final.
In contrast Djokovic will probably need to beat the world No.3, world No.2 and world No.1 in order to win the Australian Open.
Follow Night 8 of the Australian Open live below!
AUSTRALIAN OPEN NIGHT 8 ORDER OF PLAY (All times AEDT)
Men’s and Women’s Singles Fourth Round
Rod Laver Arena
Started 3:30pm
No.15 Jack Draper (GBR) vs No.3 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
Night session not before 7pm
No.7 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs No.24 Jiri Lehecka (CZE)
John Cain Arena
Not before 6pm
No.14 Ugo Humbert (FRA) vs No.2 Alex Zverev (GER)
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