Carlos Alcaraz indicated he would make “small changes” if he have been to fulfill Novak Djokovic in Doha but additionally underlined that the remainder of the competitors was no cakewalk both.
Up to now in 2025, the Spanish tennis star owns a 9-1 document, having reached the Australian Open quarterfinal and received the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam.
That solely loss got here towards the Serb in Melbourne, when the document 24-time Grand Slam champion got here again from a set right down to beat the world No. 3 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz© YouTube screenshot
Now, each No. 1 seed Alcaraz and third-seeded Djokovic are set to compete on the ATP 500 event in Doha.
For the 37-year-old Serb, it will likely be his first event since he retired his Australian Open semifinal match resulting from a torn leg muscle.
Since they have been positioned within the high half of the draw, they might probably meet within the Qatar Open semifinal.
Alcaraz on what he’d do in a different way if he confronted Djokovic once more
“In the end you have to face the best if you want to be among them, so we are going to try to go round by round and give our best until we reach the semi-finals,” the four-time Grand Slam winner instructed AS.
“He also has to see how he is after the injury, although he has been training very well, we will see how the tournament goes.
“A Grand Slam is totally different to a 500 and different tournaments, you must strategy it in the identical method, maybe some small adjustments to issues that harmed us.
“But I think the level I played there was good, so above all I have to maintain it.”
In the meantime, Alcaraz is about to battle towards 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic within the Doha first spherical.
On the opposite facet, the Serb faces Matteo Berrettini in a rematch of the 2021 Wimbledon ultimate.
