NEW YORK – Novak Jjokovic took a two-set lead against his constant beat-hit opponent Taylor Fritz, and came close to the semi-finals.
It was a back and forth taste between Djokovic and some people at Arthur Ash Stadium, and although there was still work left, he finished with 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory. Jjokovic improved to 11-0 against runner-up Fritz in 2024, reaching the record 53rd Grand Slam semi-final, including a record 14 at Flushing Meadows.
“I was just trying to survive,” Djokovic said. “That was one of those days when you just had to crush it.”
He needed three match points to finish it, leaning on his lap after the first two brought a long rally following the Fritz path. But in the end, the contest ended with an anti-climachak with a double fault by fourth seeded Fritz. That exit means that the US drought continues without a male singles champion since 2003, when Andy Roddick won in New York.
“At the end of the day, it’s one of the things that make a great player great,” Fritz said of Djokovic. “They get big points.”
On Friday, Djokovic will play in the fourth slam semi-final of the season, facing five-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, who hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament. He was a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 winner against 20th Giri Lehekka at the beginning of Tuesday.
Djokovic led second seed Alkaraz 5-3, earning his latest two matchups. This January, the Australian Open Quarter Finals came true in the final of last year’s Parisilympics, and the Serbs finally fulfilled their wish to win their country’s gold medal.
The final two men’s quarter-finals are on Wednesday: Alex de Minaur vs. Felix Auger Ariasime and defending champion Giannique Sinner vs. Lorenzo Musetti in the All-Italian match at night.
On Tuesday night, both players were dressed in completely black – shirts, shorts, socks, shoes. Even Djokovic’s wristbands were as black as Fritz’s headbands. He was wrong in the start, so the white letters in his clothing sponsor’s name were upside down until after the second set was made.
If a player appears to be similar, that’s where the similarity ceased. Djokovic, who won four of the 24 major championships at the US Open, recently did what he normally does with Fritz in 2023.
Djokovic, 38, is generally a step forward, before Fritz, 27, one or two before that serve, better in the last two sets.
Djokovic scored 25 of the 42 points following at least nine strokes. He saved 11 of the 13 break chances he faced. And he scored 10 of the 11 points.
Fritz has become a little unstable. Not his best serving. Not his best ground stroke. Perhaps it was their enemy and their one-sided history. Maybe it was the setting, the setting, the stakes.
Perhaps it was a more planned start than earlier times for the women’s quarterfinal cancellation between Alina Sabalenka and Martella Vondorsova, who retreated due to knee disadvantage early Tuesday.
Djokovic stole Fritz’s first service game towards a 3-0 lead, quickly becoming a two-set advantage. Fritz made it into the game and made things more interesting, but never made it forward.
Along the way, Djokovic was engrossed in it with the audience supporting the other, but he didn’t have much to support the man who spent the most time in the history of tennis.
Still, there was a flaw with applause and cheers from Djokovic, who is considered no in tennis.
It reached the head in the third set as the clock passed at 10:30pm, as the fault celebration grew more loudly. He then mocked and repeated the words officials had kept saying in their failed attempt to resolve the interruption.
Soon, Fritz hit the forehand winner and took a 3-1 lead in that set.
But Djokovic came at the most important time.
“He served better. He made so few mistakes,” Fritz said. “He played fourth best.”
