2025-09-03 16:30:43
Novak Djokovic has reached the semi-finals of the US Open after overcoming Taylor Fritz in four gruelling sets, setting up a blockbuster clash with Carlos Alcaraz in New York.
Djokovic, 38, faced intense pressure from the American fourth seed but came through 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in three hours and 24 minutes.
Playing in front of a partisan crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he fended off multiple break points and kept his composure after being unsettled by spectators shouting during his service motion.
Djokovic said he thought fortune played its part.
He said: “It was an incredibly close match, it was really anybody’s match. I think for most of the second and third sets he was the better player.”
The Serbian will now meet second seed Alcaraz for a place in the final of the Open.
It comes after the Spaniard progressed with a straight-sets win over Jiri Lehecka, defeating the Czech 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam singles title – a milestone that would take him past Australia’s Margaret Court.
He remains the only active member of the era-defining trio that included Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who are both now retired.
Fritz applied pressure from the start but failed to convert 10 break points before finally breaking in the second set.
But errors and three double faults handed Djokovic the initiative.
The American rallied to take the third set, as the crowd’s support intensified, but Djokovic struck the decisive break at 5-4 in the fourth before Fritz double-faulted on match point.
Djokovic said: “That last game was nerve-wracking, honestly tough one for Taylor to finish with a double fault, he didn’t deserve that.
In many of my service games I was just trying to stay alive, fight for every ball. In this kind of match, key points decide the winner.”
Alcaraz, who won the US Open in 2022, entertained the crowd with flashes of brilliance during his victory.
He said: “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment but it’s the way I love playing tennis. I want to play solid, play well and play smart but at the same time when I have the opportunity to play a great shot – or a hot shot, let’s say – why not?
“I’m here to entertain the people, myself and the team.”
The world No 2 has now reached the semi-finals in New York for the third time.
It is also the first time he has progressed to the last four of a major without dropping a set – making him the youngest man to do so since Rafael Nadal at the French Open in 2008.
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