Novak Djokovic had to battle past home favourite Taylor Fritz in a four-set tussle on Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the record slam-winning legend showed all his experience and nous as he fought through a dangerous opponent and a feisty crowd to reach his fourth grand slam semifinal of the year.
Novak Djokovic quarrels against the chair umpire during his US Open quarterfinal.(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
It wasn’t a match without its distractions. Djokovic has a long and contentious history with the New York crowd going right back to his famous match-point-saving performance against Roger Federer at this venue in 2011, and he found himself once again at odds with the boisterous late-night crowd as the match trickled over past 11 PM local time.
Djokovic started off with a two-set lead, but even that wasn’t easy as Taylor Fritz pushed him during the Serb’s own service games and heaped pressure onto the situation. However, the American’s serve wasn’t its usual pinpoint self, allowing Djokovic to start off with a lead.
However, serving much better in the third set, Fritz grew into the contest. He had lost each of the 10 times he had played Djokovic thus far in his career, and the crowd tried to get on his back and push him through to make this match competitive.
However, as far as Djokovic was concerned, things got a little over-the-top and excessive when the crowd started jeering loudly when he missed a first serve while trying to defend break point. Maintaining silence between serves is a mandate asked of fans in attendance, and Djokovic clearly grew frustrated at the repeated interruptions during his service games.
The Serb legend stepped up to chair umpire and took issue with his failures to keep the crowd under control, which many players see as coming under the purview of the umpire themselves. Djokovic can be heard in a discussion with the chair, asking him “What are you going to do?” and blaming him by stating “All you say is thank you, please, thank you please,” indicating his disagreement with the methods.
However, with the crowd already full of energy and trying to spur on their player, the chair umpire noted that him trying to get them to keep quiet would be a struggle, and that the best option for Djokovic and Fritz alike would be to soldier through the noise and try to play out their match.
The break in play did give Fritz a helping hand, as he sealed that break of serve and went on to claim the third set. Fritz’s level did step up significantly after Djokovic was distracted by the episode, as the American looked to have the ascendancy even through the fourth set. However, serving at 4-5 down, Djokovic did what Djokovic does as he went on total lockdown mode, and allowed the American to beat himself as much as anything else.
For the 11th time in a row, Djokovic beat Fritz, and in doing so has set up a tantalising semifinal encounter against Carlos Alcaraz.