Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during a fourth-round match against Jack Draper of Britain at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia . (AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan 19, (AP): It's time for the eighth installment of the riveting, intergenerational rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. This one, though, will be the first at the Australian Open - and the first in the quarterfinals of a tournament; each of the others came in either a semifinal or final. The other quarterfinal on the bottom half of the men's bracket will be No. 2 AlexanderZverev against No. 12 Tommy Paul.

Alcaraz reached his 10th career Grand Slam quarterfinal, tied for the most by a man before his 22nd birthday, by advancing when 15th-seeded Jack Draper stopped playing because of a hip injury after dropping the first two sets Sunday afternoon.

Djokovic, who is being coached in Melbourne by old rival Andy Murray, did his part at night in Rod Laver Arena, needing to work a little longer but getting through just the same with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 24 Jiri Lehecka.

Djokovic smacked a ball off a wall in the third set, drawing boos and whistles from some spectators. When they made more noise moments later, chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani admonished the folks in the stands to be more polite toward the players.

Otherwise, though, Djokovic had plenty of support, from the Serbian flags in the stands to the chants of his nickname,

There is plenty at stake at this tournament for both No. 3 seed Alcaraz, who is 21, and No. 7 Djokovic, who is 37.

Alcaraz seeks to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam with at least one trophy from all four of the most prestigious events in tennis. His four so far came elsewhere: two at Wimbledon by wins over Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals, and one apiece at the U.S. Open in 2022 and the French Open last year.

Djokovic, meanwhile, is trying to claim an 11th title in Melbourne to become the first player in tennis history with 25 major singles championships. He leads the overall head-to-head against Alcaraz 4-3, including a victory in the final at the Paris Olympics last August to claim a gold medal for Serbia.

At the majors, though, Alcaraz leads 2-1.

On Sunday, Alcaraz was ahead 7-5, 6-1 when Draper decided he couldn't continue. He'd been dealing with physical issues after winning each of his first three matches at Melbourne Park in five sets.

Coco Gauff's consecutive-set streak ended at the Australian Open. Her bid for a second Grand Slam title continued on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 comeback victory over Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.

Afterward, Gauff drew a broken heart on the lens of a courtside TV camera with the message, " RIP TikTok USA,” a reference to the ban of the popular app back home.

Until Sunday, Gauff - a 20-year-old from Florida who won the 2023 U.S. Open as a teenager - had collected all 16 sets she'd played this year and 24 of her past 25 dating to the end of last season, which included a title at the WTA Finals.

As trouble mounted late in the first set, in which Bencic broke in each of Gauff's last two service games - one of which ended with a pair of double-faults - the American kept missing the mark, compiling a whopping 20 unforced errors.

Gauff now faces No. 11 Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Badosa defeated Olga Danilovic 6-1, 7-6 (2) to get to the final eight in Melbourne for the first time.

The winner of Gauff vs. Badosa will play either No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who is seeking a third consecutive Australian Open title, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 French Open runner-up.