Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are set to face each other in the final of the 2026 Australian Open. Ahead of the championship match, Andy Roddick shared his thoughts on who he believes will win the title.
Djokovic is aiming for his 11th Australian Open title and a record 25th Grand Slam title, while Alcaraz will be looking to become the youngest man in history to complete the Career Grand Slam in singles.
Andy Roddick Reveals Who He Is Backing Ahead of Carlos Alcaraz-Novak Djokovic Australian Open Final
Djokovic reached the final of the 2026 Australian Open by overcoming Pedro Martínez, Francesco Maestrelli, Botic van de Zandschulp, Jakub Menšík, Lorenzo Musetti, and two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner. On the other hand, Alcaraz advanced to the championship match by eliminating Adam Walton, Yannick Hanfmann, Corentin Moutet, Tommy Paul, Alex de Minaur, and Alexander Zverev.
Djokovic and Alcaraz have faced each other nine times on the ATP Tour, with the Serb winning five of those encounters. Their most recent match was in the semifinals of the 2025 US Open, where Alcaraz triumphed 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2.
In a recent episode of the “Served with Andy Roddick” podcast, Roddick remarked that while it’s difficult to “bet” against Djokovic, he believes Alcaraz will claim the Australian Open title.
“You never bet against Novak. I don’t think it would be surprising. I know he beat Sinner. I think Carlos wins this match. Again, we talked about Novak being the master at managing a match and being eyes wide open as far as what he can do and what he can’t, but having to manage that and kind of make those trade-offs narrow the margins, right?” Roddick said.
The former US Open champion also discussed how Alcaraz should approach his match against the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
“Like, I don’t know that Carlos is going to go two for 18 on break points converted, which is the single biggest stat from that Sinner-Novak match, on top of his genius and mastery of managing it two for 18, you know, 0 for 8. I think in the fifth set that’s not something you can count on,” Roddick continued.
Roddick reiterated that he believes Alcaraz will win the 2026 Australian Open title, provided that his adductor injury does not have a tear or any other serious issue.
“It’s impressive when you can fight it off in retrospect that that’s not something that we can predict as a normal thing moving forward. So, I like Carlos in this match, assuming that his adductor is not like a tear or something that is crazy that I don’t see or know. If you get out there and in the first set it’s obvious he can’t move, then you know, we’re guessing on the status of that,” Roddick added.
After the Australian Open, Alcaraz is scheduled to defend his title at the ABN AMRO Open, which is scheduled to take place from February 9 to February 15, 2026, on the indoor hard courts at Rotterdam Ahoy.
Meanwhile, Djokovic is expected to compete at the 2026 Qatar Open, which will take place from February 16 to February 21, 2026, on the outdoor hard courts at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar.
