Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open following a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Taylor Fritz on Tuesday in Melbourne.
A 10-time tournament champion, Djokovic saved two set points in the first set and converted two break chances in the third en route to advancing to his 48th Grand Slam semifinal and a clash with fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner. The Italian moved on with a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over fifth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev.
“I suffered a lot in the first couple of sets, also due to his high-quality tennis,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “He was serving well, he was staying close to the line, he was kind of suffocating me from the back of the court. I was (playing) most of the rallies on my back foot. It was really difficult to find the right timing. It was extremely hot while the sun was still out there. Physically very draining, emotionally as well.”
Djokovic, of Serbia, also notched 20 aces and took advantage of Fritz’s 58 percent first-serve percentage to end his match in three hours and 45 minutes. The World No. 1 owns a sterling 9-0 all-time record versus Fritz.
“At the end of the day, I managed to break him when it mattered, in the third and the fourth,” Djokovic said. “I think I upped my game probably midway through the third set, all the way to the end.”
Sinner benefited from winning six straight points in the second-set tiebreaker to garner momentum en route to booking his spot into his maiden Australian Open semifinal appearance.
“It’s obviously very tough to play against him,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “We had some very tough matches already in the past and today was three sets, but I could have lost. The first set he had so many break points and I somehow served really well on them. Everything goes so fast, it’s more a reaction and trying to move him a little bit more than (he moves me).”
Sinner split his four head-to-head encounters with Djokovic last year.
“I’m really lucky to face him again,” Sinner said of Djokovic. “This is one of the biggest tournaments in the world. I’m happy I can play against the No. 1 in the world. He won here (10) times, so it’s going to be tough. The only thing that I can control is I will give 100 percent, I will fight for every ball and then we will see what the outcome will be.”
While Sinner hasn’t dropped a set yet in 2024, Rublev fell for the first time in nine matches and dropped to 0-10 in major quarterfinals.
–Field Level Media