By Novak Djokovic blew kisses to Tuesday night’s crowd as he dispatched last American man in the field in four sets to reach the 53rd Grand Slam semi-final of his career.
Novak Djokovic crushed the hopes of American Taylor Fritz to stay on course for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam at the US Open.
Novak Djovic vs Taylor Fritz
Djokovic reasserted his dominance over fourth-seed Fritz with a 6-3 7-5 3-6 6-4 victory to set up a blockbuster semi-final showdown against Carlos Alcaraz, The 38-year-old arrived at Arthur Ashe Stadium having beaten Fritz in all 10 of their previous meetings but was breathing heavily at times to move past last year’s runner-up.
Djokovic will now play in his fourth Grand Slam semi-final of the season, marking the seventh time in his career that he has achieved that feat, against in-form Spaniard Alcaraz, who has not dropped a set all tournament and was a comfortable winner against Czech Jiri Lehecka earlier in the day.
Novak Djovic Celebrated His Victory over Taylor Fritz
The Serb was bothered on numerous occasions by noise from the crowd while he was serving, putting his finger to his lips and blowing ironic kisses after winning the second set, In the third he remonstrated with umpire Damien Dumusois and Fritz threatened to take the contest to a fifth set, but ultimately Djokovic had the answers.
“It was an incredibly close match, really anybody’s match,” he said. “I thought I was lucky to save some crucial break points in the second and third sets. In these matches a few points decide the win.
“Tough for Taylor to finish on a double fault, he didn’t deserve that. In many of my service games I was just trying to stay alive. I’m really proud of the fight that I put in. I wear my heart on my sleeve always.”
With victory over Fritz, the 38-year-old tied Jimmy Connors‘ record by reaching a 14th semi-final here, also becoming the oldest man through to this stage since the American in 1991.
Djokovic saved five break points serving for the first set before eventually converting his second chance, raising his fist in celebration, Serving for the second set, Djokovic was again unconvincing and on his 11th break point, Fritz finally converted only to play a dreadful service game at 5-5 and give the advantage straight back.
Djokovic seemed to have one foot in the semi-finals but, spurred on by the crowd, Fritz won the third set, Strong serving from both men kept the fourth level until the 10th game, when Djokovic applied intense pressure on the Fritz serve. The fourth seed, who reached his first Grand Slam final here last year, saved two match points in epic rallies but double-faulted on the third.
Djokovic, who is looking for his fifth title at Flushing Meadows, celebrated the win with a dance for his daughter Tara as an eighth-birthday present, Djokovic now hopes to crash the Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner final that people are expecting, saying: “We know they’re the two best players in the world. Everybody’s probably expecting the final between them. I’m going to try to mess up the plans of most of the people”
