Former world number one
Andy Murray showed a gesture of
appreciation for Spain’s
Carlos Alcaraz after his defeat in the Australian
Open. The 21-year-old, who is already regarded as one of the best player currently
playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, suffered a defeat in the
quarterfinal of the first Grand Slam of the year to Serbia’s
Novak Djokovic with
a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
In a video posted on the social media platform X — previously
known as Twitter — Murray, who is now the coach of Djokovic, can be seen
showing a gesture of appreciation for Alcaraz, who was training after the defeat
and looked distraught.
The defeat would be a hard pill to swallow for the young Spaniard,
especially after he won the first set and also because Djokovic was clearly
struggling physically in the first set and had to take a medical time out as
well. With that result, the four-time Grand Slam winner’s record at the
Australian Open remains largely unimpressive, and he has yet to play beyond the
quarterfinals stage. Last year, he was also knocked out after losing in the
quarterfinal to reigning world number two Germany’s Alexander Zverev with a
score of 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
On the other hand, the result would be a major boost for
Djokovic, who is pushing to become the first player in the history of tennis in
the Open era in the singles category to lift 25 Grand Slam titles. The Belgrade-born
star will next face Germany’s Zverev in the last-four clash. The current world
number two defeated America’s Tommy Paul in the quarterfinal with a score of
7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1. It will be the 13th meeting between the two
players. In the previous 12 meetings, Djokovic clearly held an advantage as he won on eight occasions, whereas the German tennis star registered just four victories.