Tennis fans are in for an end-of-year treat as the top-two male players in the sport face off in Saudi Arabia with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic competing in the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup.
Their most recent meeting was surprisingly one-sided, Djokovic easing to a 6-3 6-2 win at the ATP World Tour Finals in November 2023.
While today’s encounter is purely an exhibition match, there will be plenty of chances for Alcaraz and Djokovic to get a good look at each other’s games with the Australian Open just around the corner, kicking off on January 14.
The Sporting News is on hand to bring you live updates and scores from today’s match between Alcaraz and Djokovic.
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic live score
| Set | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz* | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| Novak Djokovic | 1 | — | — | — | — |
*Denotes server
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic score updates and highlights from Riyadh Season Tennis Cup
Djokovic* 1-2 Alcaraz
A much simpler hold to love. Djokovic has tried a few serve-volleys early on here. Is he mixing things up to give Alcaraz some food for thought before the season proper starts?
Djokovic 0-2 Alcaraz*
A super lob sees Alcaraz win a fifth point in a row. Make that six… and then, suddenly, Djokovic finds his length, winning a baseline exchange before crashing a jumping backhand down the line. Alcaraz goes long when off balance, but a big serve wards off the break. Djokovic somehow keeps a point alive and then rushes the net to put off his opponent, who grins as he puts away the overhead. They’re both enjoying this. Alcaraz gets through in the end to hold.
Djokovic* 0-1 Alcaraz — ALCARAZ BREAKS
The first serve of the match is unreturned. Djokovic nets a volley after the second, and Alcaraz clips the line with a looping forehand for 15-30. Djokovic smiles as he sees the replay. Alcaraz forces the forehand error for two break points, and he puts away a backhand volley on the second!
Here we go!
Alcaraz won the toss and elected to receive serve first.
Warmup: Alcaraz is first to make the winding walk from the bowels of the arena onto the court. Then comes Djokovic, to even louder cheers. The two are now warming up.
Start is eight minutes away: The Saudi Arabian national anthem plays after the introduction of dignitaries. The announcement is that the start of this match is eight minutes from now. We should be moments away from getting the players on court.
Start? I think I was a little premature with the times: we’re now around 20 minutes after the scheduled start time and there’s no sign yet of these two on the court. Play will likely start in around 20 minutes’ time.
10 mins until start: There’s a decent-sized crowd now in situ for the start of the match. It’s hard to know exactly what sort of standard these two will play to today, given this is essentially a warm-up for 2024, but let’s hope we get a quality exchanges.
30 mins until start: This will be only the sixth time Alcaraz and Djokovic have played against each other and it’s the latter who holds the slight psychological advantage.
The head-to-head record between these two is quite nicely balanced: Djokovic has three wins, and Alcaraz two. Alcaraz accepted he had been comprehensively outplayed in the straight-sets defeat to his opponent at the ATP Finals last month so will be looking to level the scores and put on a show for his fans in Riyadh today.
Many will be expecting these two to meet at the latter stages of the Australian Open next month and it’s Alcaraz who emerged victorious in their last Grand Slam meeting, following his first Wimbledon triumph in the summer.
1 hour until start: The Riyadh Season Tennis Cup actually consists of two matches, with world No.2 Aryna Sabelenka playing Ons Jabeur yesterday.
The Belarusian beat world No.6 Jabeur 6-4 3-6 2-6 to exact a small bit of revenge on the Tunisian for dumping her out of Wimbledon earlier this year.
90 mins until start: So what is the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup? The Riyadh Tennis Cup is a part of the Riyadh Season, which happens in the Saudi Arabian capital each year.
It’s a huge event that takes place over months and this season featured the heavyweight boxing tilt between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou back in late October. As well as sporting events, the festival also offers concerts and other unique cultural events to the thousands of visitors who travel from around the world each year.
2 hours until start: Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of today’s Riyadh Season Tennis Cup match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Just two days after Christmas and the world’s best two male tennis players will be hoping any extra turkey indulged in over the festive period doesn’t impact their game in Saudi Arabia! This may be just a an exhibition match but training for the Australia Open next month is well underway.
When is the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup? Alcaraz vs. Djokovic start time
This year, the Riyadh Tennis Cup will take place from December 26 to 27 and will see some of the world’s most famous tennis stars battle it out.
The men’s match, on December 27, features the two current best players in the world face off as Djokovic and Alcaraz renew their new found rivalry, just a month on from their ATP Finals matchup.
The day before, December 26, Sabalenka, take on popular Tunisian star, Ons Jabeur.
Today’s match takes place at the Kingdom Arena, which has a capacity for 40,000 fans.
Here is the expected start time for Alcaraz vs. Djokovic around the world:
| Date | Start time | |
| USA | Weds. Dec 27 | 10.45 a.m. ET |
| Canada | Weds. Dec 27 | 10.45 a.m. ET |
| UK | Weds. Dec 27 | 3.45 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Thurs. Dec 28 | 2.45 a.m. AEST |
| India | Weds. Dec 27 | 9.15 p.m. IST |
MORE: Australian Open 2024 details: When it starts & who is competing
Riyadh Season Tennis Cup 2023 live stream, TV channel
The tournament will be streamed exclusively by DAZN around the world:
| TV channel | Streaming | |
| USA | — | DAZN |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
| UK | DAZN 1 | DAZN |
| Australia | — | DAZN |
| India | — | DAZN |