"I let him get into the match again": Carlos Alcaraz laments biggest mistake in Novak Djokovic Australian Open loss
ATP
Although the match started very positively for him, Carlos Alcaraz has been eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open 2025. The player from Murcia has fallen in 4 sets against Novak Djokovic by a score of 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 and 4-6.
In this way, Alcaraz says goodbye to the only Grand Slam that still resists him in his record, despite being only 21 years old. This is something that should not be forgotten. To have 2 Wimbledon, 1 Roland Garros and 1 US Open titles at that age is still surreal. And losing against the best tennis player in history in the quarterfinals is by no means a failure.
However, in his post-match press conference, Alcaraz was, of course, very self-critical. In fact, he revealed what for him was the biggest mistake of the match.
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“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's was the biggest mistake that I made today," siad Alcaraz.
"In the second set I had to play a little bit better just to push him even more to the limit. Yeah, he 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 that, I think he started to feel better and playing such a great level. That was my biggest mistake today. But obviously when Novak is at this level, it's really difficult. 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.”
“Well, I mean, it's just about when you seeing someone that is struggling physically a little bit, it's kind of you not playing the same level. It seems like, okay, it's going to be easier. At the same time in your mind you're thinking, like, Okay, I have not to make mistakes. Probably you're not hitting the ball at the same way that you're hitting before. I think that's it. I think he did great, great hits, great shots. He started to play more aggressively, try not to move so much in the second set. He made few of them, which make him stay up in the set, break up, or stay up. That's it. After that, as I said, it was really difficult to overcome that.”
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Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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