With his victory over the world No. 4 on Tuesday night, Djokovic will now face the world No. 2, Carlos Alcaraz, in the semifinals on Friday.
“Well, it’s not going to get easier. I tell you that,” Djokovic told reporters. “Look, as I said, I’m going to try to take one day at a time. Really take care of my body. Try to relax and recover. The next couple of days is really key for me to really get my body in shape and ready to battle five sets if it’s needed. I just would really love that. Would love to be fit enough to play and to play, you know, potentially five sets with Carlos. I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I’d rise to the occasion.
“Normally I like to play the big matches on a big stage. It’s just that I’m not really sure how the body is going to feel in the next few days. But I’m going to do my very best with my team to be fit for that.
“There’s going to be a lot of running involved, that’s for sure. It’s not going to be short points.”
Djokovic leads Alcaraz in their head-to-head, 5-3, but perhaps more importantly he’s 3-0 against the Spaniard on hard courts with wins at Cincinnati and the ATP Finals in 2023 and then at the Australian Open earlier this year.
The other men’s semifinal will be set on Wednesday after the last two quarterfinal matches take place, the first one between Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime and the second one between Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.
