It didn’t help that he got off to a predictably nervous start, missing first serves, overhitting forehands, and going down an early break. While the American settled down soon after, he never got that break back. The match’s first inflection point came with Djokovic serving at 5-4. Five times he faced a break point, and five times he saved it, each with an aggressive play.
“In many of my service games I was just trying to stay alive, fight for every ball,” Djokovic said. “He was aggressive, staying close to the line, not easy to play him.”
That pattern held through the first nine games of the second set. Fritz reached break point with Djokovic serving at 1-2, 2-3, and 5-4. Finally, when Djokovic served for the set, Fritz broke through to make it 5-5.
The crowd was on its feet, Fritz was pumping his fist for the first time, and Djokovic finished the game with a weary bail-out drop shot that fluttered into the net. Was it time for the younger man to take over at last?
It was really anybody’s match. Novak Djokovic after his four-set win over Taylor Fritz
We got our answer on the next point: Fritz double faulted. Then he double faulted again at break point to go down 5-6. When Djokovic held for a two-set lead, Fritz’s best chance had passed.
“I was lucky to save some crucial break points in the second set,” Djokovic said. “For most of the second and third set, he was the better player.”
Credit Fritz for staying in there, for raising his level on his serve, for taking advantage of a concentration dip from Djokovic—the Serb got into it with the Ashe crowd—and for pushing the match to a fourth. Credit him as well for going shot-for-shot with Djokovic for the first eight games of the final set.
