By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Novak Djokovic reasserted his dominance over American Taylor Fritz with a 6-3 7-5 3-6 6-4 victory on Tuesday to set up a U.S. Open semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz, celebrating the win with a dance dedicated to his daughter on her birthday.
The 38-year-old arrived at Arthur Ashe Stadium having beaten Fritz in all 10 of their previous meetings but had to fight hard to move past last year’s runner-up and stay on track for a record 25th major title.
“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,” Djokovic said.
“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.”
After a strong start, Djokovic came under intense pressure in the ninth game of the match and saved five breakpoints to close out the opening set on serve before a stunning crosscourt winner from deep sealed another tight hold in the next set.
Fourth seed Fritz, the last American man left in the draw, finally broke on his 11th attempt but failed to make the most of it and soon found himself two sets down.
The American showed great resolve to win the third set with improved serving but that was it for the comeback.
Djokovic held to love for a 5-4 lead in the fourth set and squandered two match points in the following game before closing it out thanks to a double fault from Fritz, making it 16-0 against Americans at the U.S. Open.
“That last game was nerve-wracking, honestly, a tough one for Taylor to finish up with a double fault. He didn’t deserve that, but great fight and great tournament for him,” said the Serb.
“I didn’t feel like I was dominating from back of the court. In many of my service games, I was just trying to stay alive and fight for every ball … I’m proud of the fight I put in. I wear my heart on my sleeve for this sport, I’m still enjoying it.”
Djokovic, who is looking for his fifth title at Flushing Meadows, celebrated the win with a dance for his daughter Tara.
“The dance in the end, she’s going to rate me tomorrow on how good the dance was,” Djokovic said.
“She told me how to dance. It’s K-Pop Demon Hunters … Soda Pop is the name of the song. Obviously it’s a big thing globally for teenagers and for kids, but I didn’t know about it before.
“My daughter told me a few months ago about it. So we’re at home doing choreography and this is one of them. Hopefully I’ll make her smile when she wakes up tomorrow morning.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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