Alcaraz denied Djokovic his record-equaling 24th Grand Slam back in the summer. It was a match that saw Djokovic in tears and admitting that Alcaraz was not someone he thought would be a problem on grass.
Djokovic is appearing in the US Open for the first time in two years and is looking to win his 24th. Alcaraz, on the other hand, is the current defending champion.
“It would be great to play a final against Novak here in New York but we both have really tough semi-finals,” Alcaraz said.
“But obviously both of us are looking for that potential final.”
For the final to happen, Alcaraz will have to dispatch Medvedev and Djokovic will have to beat American Ben Shelton.
The two are even on their head-to-head record with the last win going to Djokovic.
The growing rivalry between the two is something that has given Djokovic new energy. To make it to the semis, he beat American Taylor Fritz. Now, he is up against another American – young Ben Shelton.
Djokovic has acknowledged that going up against another American means that the crowd will likely be on his opponent’s side.
“It’s normal, it’s logical to expect that most of the crowd would support the home player. That’s probably going to be the case on Friday, but I’ll be ready for it,” he said.
No matter how the match against Djokovic goes, Shelton is set to set a career milestone as he is guaranteed to break into the Top 20 for the first time.