Australian Open Day 10: Novak Djokovic defeats Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Tommy Paul fall in quarterfinals

Day 10 at the 2025 Australian Open ended much later than normal, thanks to a typically epic match between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. These two have developed a bit of an on-court rivalry over the past few years, with 21-year-old Alcaraz continuing to solidify his talent and his chops while the 37-year-old keeps fighting off the specter of time with nothing but a tennis racket and a sneer.

On Tuesday, Djokovic came out on top. While Alcaraz took the first set, Djokovic roared back and stifled Alcaraz in the next three sets, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

The Australian Open is Djokovic's playground. He's been more successful there than at any other major, winning 10 of his 24 Grand Slam trophies in Melbourne. He knows the court, he knows the crowd, and most importantly, he knows himself. While the rise of young, talented, compelling stars like Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner can make it seem like Djokovic's time in the sun is over, he's clearly not ready to enter the twilight of his career just yet. He's out there beating ultra-gifted players like Alcaraz who are 16 years his junior.

The era of the Big Three has ended. But Djokovic's era is still going strong.

While Djokovic felled a major obstacle in his path on Day 10, it was a bad one Americans at the Australian Open. Five Americans overall made it to the quarterfinals, but the highest-seeded woman and man both lost on Tuesday.

No. 3 seed Coco Gauff saw her Aussie Open journey come to an end with her loss to No. 11 Paula Badosa in straight sets. Gauff wasn't overwhelmed by Badosa, but didn't play cleanly. She served up six double faults and had 41 unforced errors, compared to Badosa's two double faults and 23 unforced errors.

Tommy Paul, seeded 12th, also lost, beaten by the No. 2 seed who is hunting for his first major trophy with great intensity. Alexander Zverev defeated Paul 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 in a close, tense match. Zverev ruled both tiebreaks to win sets one and two, but then Paul came out and dominated Zverev in the third set. But Zverev, who can play like a force of nature, came back and slammed down a quick fourth-set win to take the match.

The women's No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but not without some trouble. Sabalenka won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, but dropped her first set of the entire tournament. And it wasn't close, either. For the first time at the 2025 Australian Open, Sabalenka was overwhelmed and outplayed. Pavlyuchenkova wasn't able to make a big dent in the sets she lost, but it does show that Sabalenka's dominance can be broken in the right circumstances.

The three remaining Americans will play their quarterfinal matches next. No. 19 Madison Keys will take on No. 28 Elina Svitolina, while No. 8 Emma Navarro will battle No. 2 Iga Swiatek. It'll be a tough match for Navarro, as Swiatek has been just as dominant as Sabalenka — Swiatek's opponents in her last three matches have won a total of four games. Over on the men's side, No. 21 Ben Shelton is facing the unseeded Lorenzo Sonego. If Shelton wins, he'll play in his second career Grand Slam semifinal, his first since the 2023 US Open.