Australian Open 2025 results: Novak Djokovic beats Jiri Lehecka to set up quarter-final with Carlos Alcaraz
2025-01-19
Category: sports

Australian Open 2025Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne ParkCoverage: Live radio commentary on Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app
Novak Djokovic set up a mouth-watering quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open with a convincing victory over Jiri Lehecka.Djokovic continued his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title with a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win against the Czech 24th seed.He will face Alcaraz in the last eight after the Spaniard progressed when British number one Jack Draper retired with a hip injury earlier on Sunday.Alcaraz beat Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals, but the Serb got the better of the 21-year-old to win gold at the Paris Olympics last summer - Djokovic's self-proclaimed "biggest sporting achievement". Djokovic was booed by the crowd as Lehecka threatened to force a fourth set, and the 11-time Australian Open champion was quick to leave Rod Laver Arena after his victory."Thank you very much for being here tonight, I appreciate your support and I will see you in the next round," was all the 37-year-old said as he swerved the usual on-court interview.
During his third-round win over Tomas Machac, Djokovic appeared exhausted at times and needed a medical timeout.He looked fresher against Machac's compatriot, taking control of the opening two sets and stopping Lehecka from earning a break point for more than an hour and 40 minutes.When Lehecka broke back at the start of the third, an agitated Djokovic shouted towards his team - which includes his former rival Andy Murray - before complaining about noise from the stands while he was trying to serve.But the seventh seed used the crowd to his advantage in the tie-break, conducting them after hitting a sublime backhand pass and cupping his ear after a deft volley brought up two match points.
Elsewhere, second seed Alexander Zverev overcame a mid-match blip to move into the last eight with a 6-1 2-6 6-3 6-2 victory over France's Ugo Humbert.Zverev, a runner-up at last year's Roland Garros and the 2020 US Open, has now reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam on 14 occasions but he has yet to lift a maiden major trophy.The German will face American 12th seed Tommy Paul, who needed just 87 minutes wrap up a confident  6-1 6-1 6-1 win against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.