Novak Djokovic becomes first male in Open Era to reach 50 Grand Slam semifinals

Twentyfour-time Major champion, Novak Djokovic, defeated Carlos Alcaraz to achieve this feat.

Novak Djokovic improved his head-to-head record to 5-3 over Carlos Alcaraz after the quarter-final win in four sets. The Serbian rallied from a set down before emerging victorious, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 after 3 hours and 37 minutes on court at the Australian Open 2025.

The standout statistic of the night was Djokovic reaching his 50th singles semi-final at a Grand Slam. He is the first man to achieve the milestone on the men’s tour and the second player overall, besides Chis Evert (52), to breach the magic number in the Open Era. Ken Rosewell reached 52 singles semi-finals at majors, but it was before the Open Era.

Djokovic is making his intentions clear as he guns for the title after defeating Alcaraz in their eighth career meeting. It was their first Grand Slam meeting after the Wimbledon finals last season. The World No. #7 has also equalled Jimmy Connors (91.7%) for the highest winning percentage in the singles draw at the Australian Open in the Open Era.  

Also Read: Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz head-to-head record

Taking on Andy Murray as coach appears to be a step in the right direction for the 37-year-old as he subdued Alcaraz to make his 12th semi-final in Melbourne. Djokovic looks all set to add to his 24 Grand Slam titles after putting up a high-quality display against Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, 21, has missed out on the opportunity to become the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam. The first of the Spaniard’s major titles was the US Open (2022), followed by Wimbledon (2023, 2024) and Roland Garros (2024).

Also Read: Top five youngest players to complete a Career Grand Slam

Against Djokovic, Alcaraz had no answers as the Serb marched into the last four to set up a 13th career meeting with Alexander Zverev. Germany’s Zverev, a three-time Australian Open semi-finalist, advanced to the last four with a 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 victory against Tommy Paul earlier on Tuesday. 

Alcaraz, the World No. #3, has made an exit in the quarter-final stage in Australia for the second season in a row. It was a vintage performance from the last active member of the ‘Big 3.’ Djokovic has dominated the blue hard courts of Melbourne Park and owns a 10-0 record in finals. He is a single win away from making his eleventh final at the venue.   

Booking a spot in the final will return Djokovic to the top five in the ATP rankings, a position he vacated in November last season. However, taking back ownership of the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup will be on his mind when the Australian Open wraps up on January 26th.

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