Carlos Alcaraz uncontrollably cried after Novak Djokovic stunned Spaniard in historic clash

Two familiar foes are meeting again.

The stakes are high as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will fight for a place in US Open final on Friday.

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Despite the difference in age, with Alcaraz 22 and Djokovic 38, the pair have had a thrilling rivalry over the past few years.

Djokovic has all to play for in New York, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has been halted at the semi-final stage of every single major so far.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz is enjoying a brilliant US Open, as he is yet to drop set and is fighting not only to reach his first hard-court major final since 2022 but claim the World No.1 spot from Jannik Sinner.

Despite picking up three majors in the last 18 months, while Djokovic has won zero, the Serbian outplayed him in their last two important clashes.

The last one was a quarter-final clash at the Australian Open, in which the Spaniard was on the receiving end of some boos.

And before that it was their infamous gold-medal match at the Paris Olympics last year.

Alcaraz couldn’t stop crying after his Olympics defeat

Alcaraz broke down in tears when Djokovic defeated him 7-6 (3) 7-6 (2) in a excruciatingly tight final.

While Alcaraz will contest more Olympic Games, this was likely Djojkovic’s last chance to win gold.

In his last four Olympics, he won a singles bronze in Beijing in 2008, finished fourth at London 2012, lost early in Rio in 2016 and lost the bronze-medal match in Tokyo in 2021.

When pressed if he had ‘completed’ tennis, Djokovic said: “Yes it’s complete because I completed all the achievements with this gold medal.

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Meanwhile, Alcaraz was crying for very different reasons as he revealed his emotions came after he felt like he had let his country down.

“It was a difficult moment. The truth is that it was a difficult moment because my objective from the beginning of the year was to win the gold medal,” Alcaraz said.

“And that week I felt the need to do it. In the end that feeling can be wrong – to feel the need to do something – so in that moment when I didn’t do it.

“Obviously after a defeat, 10-15 minutes after an objective you haven’t been able to complete, it’s difficult to put everything in perspective.

“And in that moment I felt that I had let my country down, that I had let the Spanish people down, for not winning the gold medal that everyone was expecting.

“That’s why I reacted like that, letting my feelings go, and obviously speaking to the cameras, expressing myself in that moment, and showing to my country and to the world how I felt, I think it was necessary.”

Can Djokovic cause another upset?

World No.7 Djokovic is the clear underdog in this clash.

And after several medical timeouts this tournament amid some stunning victories, questions about his fitness linger.

“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. would love to be fit enough to play and to play potentially five sets with Carlos,” said Djokovic, who leads Alcaraz 5-3 in their head to head.

“I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I’d rise to the occasion.”

Still reeling from that Olympics defeat, revenge is what Alcaraz wants from his match.

“Novak, we all know Novak’s game… It doesn’t matter that he has been out of the Tour since Wimbledon. [He’s] playing great matches here,” the five-time major winner said.

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“I know he’s hungry. I know his ambition for more, so let’s see. I know I played a lot of times against him. I really want revenge. That’s obvious.”

To prevail against Alcaraz, Djokovic will need to replicate what has overcome the Spaniard before – a dominant baseline game to render Alcaraz’s depth and pace ineffective.

Many fans may want Alcaraz to win and set up another final against Sinner.

But Djokovic wants to spoil that party.

He told reporters: “Everybody’s probably expecting and anticipating the finals between two of them. I’m going to try to, you know, mess up the plans of most of the people.”