Forty minutes into his umpteenth big match under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Novak Djokovic seemed to be coming undone. After a supreme start, Djokovic’s first serve had suddenly deserted him. His ground strokes began to spew unforced errors. Up against the wall, he faced five break points while serving for the first set.
Each time he came close to falling into the abyss, allowing his distinguished opponent back into the match, Djokovic conjured up a spectacular response. That nerveless, clutch play would define his performance as Djokovic held off a spirited late comeback from a battling Taylor Fritz, who had been the superior player for significant parts of the match, and an increasingly unruly New York crowd to reach the semi-finals of the US Open with a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win.
Yet again, Djokovic has shown that he continues to perform at a level higher than any other player at his age in the history of the sport. Already the oldest man in the open era to reach the quarter-finals of all four grand slam tournaments in a year, the 38-year-old has now reached the semi-finals of each major event.
“Incredibly close match, it was really anybody’s match,” said Djokovic, who saved 11 of 13 break points. “I thought I was lucky to save some crucial break points in the second set. I think for most of the second and third set, he was the better player. In these kinds of matches, few points decide the winner. It was fortunately coming on my side.”
This victory also further reinforces Djokovic’s superiority over the vast majority of the field; he has been the third-best player in the world at the grand slam tournaments this year, defeating three top five opponents – Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and now Fritz – during those runs. However, as he continues his search for a 25th grand slam title, Djokovic will now have to face off against one of the two players who continue to define this new era of men’s tennis: Alcaraz.
Earlier on Wednesday, Alcaraz, the second seed, eased into the semi-final with a straight sets win over Jiri Lehecka.
A glimpse into Fritz’s mental state at the beginning of one of the biggest matches of his career was perhaps provided by his attire. The American walked out on to Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing his bandana upside down, meaning its logo read “ssob” instead of “boss”. Fritz has been in some of the best form of his life, admirably establishing himself as a consistent top five player and the No 1 American, but against the very best his deficiencies are magnified and exposed. Here, his attempts to pull off the biggest win of his match ended in tears.
Taylor Fritz got back in the match at the beginning of the second set. Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters
Although Fritz did not manage to take advantage of his five break points late in the opening set, at the beginning of set two the complexion of the match had changed. Suddenly, the American was in almost every one of Djokovic’s return games, his consistent returning forcing Djokovic to work for every one of his service games, while Fritz eased through his own. Djokovic broke first and had a chance to serve out the second set at 5-4, but Fritz pulled him back by finally on his 11th break point. After all the work it had taken for Fritz to finally break Djokovic’s serve, he immediately lost his nerve, concluding a messy, rushed service game with a double fault to hand back the break for 6-5.
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In recent years, Djokovic’s status as the elder statesman of the tour has afforded him an increasing amount of crowd support. Aside from a few individuals, the New York crowd had been fairly restrained through two sets. But as defeat potentially drew near for Fritz, the crowd increasingly inserted itself in the match. At 1-2, Djokovic’s serve was repeatedly disrupted by the crowd and his protests to the umpire provoked an even larger retaliation from the crowd. Fritz took full advantage, breaking in that game and riding the momentum to a fourth set.
Although Fritz has glaring physical limitations compared to the very best players in the world, his commitment and fight are undeniable. He began a tense, frantic fourth set in control, his enormous first serve impenetrable and dictating from on top of the baseline. For the better part of two sets, he had been the better player, but as he served to stay in the match at 4-5 the pressure piled back on his shoulders.
As Fritz missed first serves and became increasingly passive under stress, Djokovic, the master of the big moment, refused to let the opportunity pass him by as he snatched another supreme win and offered himself another shot at one of the new leaders of the sport he dominated for years. “At the end of the day, the win matters,” said Djokovic. “I’m really proud of the fight that I put in. I wear my heart on my sleeve, always, for this sport, so I’m still enjoying it.”