Never before, though, have Djokovic and Alcaraz met in a quarter-final. Players of their grand stature are only supposed to meet at the pointy end of tournaments, like when Alcaraz denied the super Serb in the past two Wimbledon title deciders, before the 24-times major champ completed an elusive golden slam in Paris last August.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have set up a quarterfinal showdown at the Australian Open MELBOURNE, Australia — It’s time for the eighth installment of the riveting, intergenerational rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz .

Alcaraz has hit his usual highlight-reel shots from time to time and Djokovic has dropped only two sets, but the nature of their paths to the last eight has been unexpected. From the moment the draw was made,