Alcaraz 'suffocates you', says Paul; Sabalenka waiting for Djokovic's message on mixed doubles

VIDEO SHOWS: AUSTRALIAN OPEN PRESS CONFERENCE SOUNDBITES FROM CARLOS ALCARAZ, TOMMY PAUL, ARYNA SABALENKA AND VICTORIA MBOKO  RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 25, 2026) (TENNIS AUSTRALIA – See restrictions) 1. WORLD NUMBER ONE CARLOS ALCARAZ WALKING IN FOR PRESS CONFERENCE AND SITTING DOWN 2. WHITE FLASH 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPANIARD CARLOS ALCARAZ, ON HIS WIN OVER TOMMY PAUL, SAYING:     "Well, I think in a Grand Slam, it's always great winning straight sets, saving energy for the next round. And I think it's even better for yourself, for the mind to have a win, such a great win against Tommy Paul in straight sets, so it gives you a lot of confidence coming into the quarter-final, so I'm just really, really happy with the level that I played today, and I'm excited to see, you know, how it's going to be in the quarters." 4. WHITE FLASH 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARLOS ALCARAZ, WHEN ASKED EXPLAIN WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE DJOKOVIC SERVE THAT HE'S DOING, SAYING:     "It's really, really difficult to read it, and it is really close to the lines, and you know his ball is like a slipper, you know, when it touches the ground, so it's… It's, yeah, it's, as I said, it's really difficult to see it and to return it, so that's what makes his serve a really, really good one, but it's not the fastest one, so sometimes you gotta go for the precision more than the speed." 6. WHITE FLASH 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARLOS ALCARAZ WHEN ASKED IF HE REALLY GOT TESTED AGAINST A PLAYER WHO WAS HAVING A BAD DAY GOING INTO THE QUARTERS, SAYING:     "You have to see the overall of the match. For example, something that I was working on is to maintain the focus during the whole match, which I did today, playing such great tennis from the beginning to the end of the match. So for me, it was really, really important, more than saving energy, because I just have plenty of. It's more about how I've been playing for almost three hours, which was really, really, really high level." 8. WHITE FLASH 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN TOMMY PAUL, WHEN ASKED TO DESCRIBE WHAT IT IS TO PLAY ALCARAZ, SAYING:     "I mean, I definitely don't have an excuse this time; he totally outplayed me. I mean, I guess the way that I would describe it is, he kind of suffocates you in a way. He makes you feel like you have no time. He rushes you.  Today, I hit my forehand terribly today and he saw that early and he was trying to get into that forehand-to-forehand rally and he did it much better than I did. And that's what it, that's what I felt like. It felt like he got all the patterns he wanted and I was having a tough time getting into the patterns that I wanted." 10. WHITE FLASH 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WOMEN'S WORLD NUMBER ONE ARYNA SABALENKA, WHEN ASKED ABOUT UKRAINIAN OLEKSANDRA OLIYNYKOVA'S SOCIAL MEDIA POST CRITICISING HER PARTNERSHIP WITH GUCCI, SAYING:     "Well, I mean, I respect that everyone. Everyone is allowed to have their opinion and use their platforms, but I've been clear before that I'm pro-peace and nothing has changed, and that's all I can say about that." 12. WHITE FLASH 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WOMEN'S WORLD NUMBER ONE ARYNA SABALENKA, WHEN ASKED WHEN WE CAN SEE HER PLAYING MIXED DOUBLES WITH NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SAYING:     "Maybe the US Open this year. I mean, I'm still waiting for, he just like barely asked me at the US Open last year, but I'm still waiting for that long message from him about how he would like to play with me, that I'm his dream partner. So I'm still waiting for the message, never got it. So I don't know, maybe we're not playing." 14. WHITE FLASH 15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CANADIAN TEEN SENSATION, VICTORIA MBOKO, ON HER MATCH AGAINST SABALENKA, SAYING:     "It was a pretty nice experience having it be my first time on the centre court playing against the world number one. And I think at the end of the day it really came down to experience and she played really great tennis and I, of course, had my chances, but I'm glad to have played her today and just seeing how she can play and what to expect. So just a learning curve from now on." 16. WHITE FLASH 17. MBOKO AT THE END OF THE PRESSER STORY: Carlos Alcaraz's playing style "suffocates you" said American Tommy Paul after he lost in straight sets to the world number one Spaniard at Melbourne Park on Sunday (January 25). Paul, who had played Alcaraz four times before the round of 16 encounter at the Australian Open, said Alcaraz puts relentless pressure on his opponent and "rushes you". Alcaraz, who beat the 19th seed 7-6(6) 6-4 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena was happy to come through the battle ahead of the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka faced questions about Ukrainian player Oleksandra Oliynykova's social media criticism of Gucci's partnership with the Belarusian. "I mean, I respect that everyone is allowed to have their opinion and use their platforms," Sabalenka responded. "I've been clear before that I'm pro peace. Nothing hasn't changed. That's all I can say about that." On a lighter note, when asked about potential mixed doubles with Djokovic, Sabalenka couldn't hide her amusement. "I mean, I'm still waiting. He just like barely asked me at the US Open last year. I'm still waiting for that long message from him, how he would like to play with me, that I'm his dream partner. So I'm still waiting for the message. Never got it. I don't know. Maybe we're not playing," she added with laughter. Sabalenka held off Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko 6-1 7-6(1) to advance to the quarters. Playing on centre court for the first time at a Grand Slam, Mboko bowed out of her Australian Open main draw debut with her reputation enhanced. (Production: Bhagya Ayyavoo)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)