38 years old, and going for a record-extending 25th Major title, Novak Djokovic arrived at the US Open after a six-week break from tennis and played his first four matches as if they were joyless means of business. He got the job done, but there was hardly much to write home about when he reached the quarterfinals in terms of mood, fitness or standards of performance.
What better moment could he have found to turn that around than to prove a point to a wild New York crowd that consistently got on his back, attempting to both intimidate him and spur on his opponent? Add to that the possibility of finding his edge and sharpening his game before the hard tests start against the best players in the world. Combine it with an adversary who is not good enough to contend with him — Djokovic had won each of their 10 previous encounters — but good enough to test him.
No wonder, then, that after his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over Taylor Fritz late on Tuesday — an utterly impressive performance given that he was ruthless without being dominant — he broke into a little shimmy. He was goading the crowd that had been mercilessly trying to deter him, but with his tireless talent for theatre, he would reveal the real reason was a dedication to his daughter on her birthday.
“The dance at the end – she is going to rate me tomorrow. At home, we do different choreographies. Hopefully, it makes her smile when she wakes up tomorrow morning,” he said on court.
He had more reason to celebrate, though. The broad grin returned to Djokovic’s face because the joy of competing did too. This was a vintage performance; a kind of exhibition of the talent for winning that the Serb has spent the last 20 years refining. He was not at his best consistently, but rolled it out in the important moments to flatten the crowd and a resurgent Fritz that threatened a comeback in the second half of the encounter.
The numbers after the victory continue to boggle the mind. At 38, and in poor (some may even say declining) touch, he has established himself as the third best player at the Majors, reaching the semifinals at each of them this year. The last time Roger Federer did that was in 2009, at the age of 29. This is his 53rd Grand Slam semifinal appearance in 80 tournament entries. It is his 14th semifinal appearance at the US Open alone.
Up next, Djokovic will take on Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal on Friday and perhaps Jannik Sinner in the final. Both players have wolfed up each of the last seven Majors and had his number on the big stage – Alcaraz beat the Serb in the Wimbledon final in 2022 and 2023; Sinner has defeated him in three of his last four Grand Slam semifinals, including two this year.
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But on Tuesday, his performance delivered the same message to them as it did to the New York faithful: ‘Bring it on.’
Making his own luck
The Serb acknowledged that Tuesday’s contest was a test. “It was an incredibly close match. It was really anybody’s match. I thought I was lucky to really save crucial breakpoints in the second set,” he said later. “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, particularly at the end of the fourth set.”
But while there was a grain of truth to this assessment, Djokovic had been rather generous to the American fourth seed, who showed up with a consistently high level of both serving and his forehand. Djokovic’s turnaround was more skill and less luck.
He was up and motivated for this match from the start. He raised his level, serving down bombs when needed and finding his second serve – an apparent weakness for him in the first week – when needed. He moved Fritz side-to-side and unloaded into the space when the opportunity arose. He tested the American’s patience by dragging him into longer rallies, and Fritz duly submitted. He showed the effectiveness of his variegated game and baseline strategies. He saved 11 of the 13 break points that he faced.
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Early in the second set, Fritz held two of those to find a way back into the match and Djokovic came up clutch with two forehand winners. Another one came and went a few games later, once again clamped down by an overhead winner. Once Fritz found the breakthrough late in the set, Djokovic broke right back and took a 2-0 set lead, blowing a few kisses to the crowd too.
When Fritz finally got under him and took the third set, Djokovic did what he does. He found more reason to prove the crowd wrong, simply moving up a gear and producing his best tennis of the match to take the four-set win.
Harder tests await, but there could hardly have been better preparation.
