The Serb is writing history a little more. On Tuesday, September 5, Novak Djokovic qualified for his thirteenth semi-final at Flushing Meadows at the expense of American Taylor Fritz (9?) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. The Serbian player is seeking a 24th Grand Slam title to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record. At 36, the Serb will try on Friday to reach the final of the New York Major, which he has won three times, by facing another American, the winner of the match between Frances Tiafoe (10?), semi-finalist the year last, and Ben Shelton (47?).
“I’m going to enjoy watching them on TV tonight, from my sofa, with my physio, drinks and popcorn, legs in the air to recover, commented the Djoker. It’s going to be great to watch them and we’ll see what happens on Friday,” he commented. Djokovic became the sole record holder for 47 Grand Slam semi-finals played, now a step ahead of Roger Federer. At Flushing Meadows, only Jimmy Connors did better (14).
He is also the only player to have reached the last four of the four Majors this season (he was already the only one to have reached the quarters four times in 2023).
Despite the heat on Tuesday – or perhaps because of it – Djokovic did not stay very long (2h35) in the steam room of the Arthur-Ashe court, the roof of which had been half closed to provide shade on the ground. “I cut my hair and it helped me, I was more aerodynamic,” he joked, before getting serious again: “The conditions were very hot and humid, but it was the same for all the two. We train to resist.”
Fritz, who battled five sets against Djokovic in their only previous Grand Slam encounter in the third round of the 2020 Australian Open as the Serb ripped his abs, was never threatening on Tuesday.
He managed to take the serve of his opponent once in the first set to pick up at 2-1 after giving up his first face-off. But thereafter, the games paraded in favor of Djokovic who scored four in a row to pocket this first round. The Serb achieved the break at the start of the second set and did not relinquish his advantage, victoriously defending the four break points conceded. In the third set, he broke to lead 4-3, but on a bad service game he allowed Fritz to equalize. He then pocketed the next two games and the match.
