New York (AFP) – Novak Djokovic advanced to a blockbuster US Open showdown with Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday as reigning women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka vaulted into the semi-finals without having to lift her racquet. Djokovic snuffed out Taylor Fritz’s hopes of becoming the first American man to win a Grand Slam singles title since 2003 with a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 quarter-final victory on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. The win sent the 38-year-old Serbian — chasing a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam victory — into a mouthwatering semi-final against Spanish second seed Alcaraz on Friday.
Djokovic clinched victory when fourth seed Fritz double-faulted on match point in the 10th game of the final set and could not hide his relief at finally emerging victorious. “In this kind of match a few points on either side decide the winner,” he said. “It was an incredibly close match. It was really anybody’s match.” Fritz was left ruing his failure to make the most of the opportunities that came his way, converting only two of 13 points during an absorbing three-hour 24-minute battle. The American fourth seed squandered five break points in the opening set that would have made it 5-4, instead allowing Djokovic to wriggle off the hook and take a one-set lead.
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Then, after battling back to break Djokovic to get to 5-5 in the second, Fritz was broken immediately to surrender the initiative. Djokovic duly held to take a two-set lead, and while Fritz hit back to take the third set, the veteran Serb regrouped to wrap up victory in the next set. “I thought I was really lucky to save some crucial break points in the second set,” Djokovic said. “I think for most of the second and third sets he was the better player.” Djokovic will meet Alcaraz in the last four with the 22-year-old Spaniard in blistering form. The five-time Grand Slam champion needed just one hour and 56 minutes to seal a convincing 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Czech 20th seed Jiri Lehecka.
Alcaraz has not dropped a set during a relentless march into the semi-finals and was once again in complete control against Lehecka. “I just played a really — or almost perfect match,” said Alcaraz, who has won 35 of his last 36 matches since the start of the Italian Open in May. “It seems like, OK, just two more steps to do, and let’s see what happens. But yeah, I’m just feeling great and hungry to make it.”
– Sabalenka walkover –
In the women’s draw on Tuesday, world number one and defending champion Sabalenka moved into the semi-finals after Czech quarter-final opponent Marketa Vondrousova pulled out with a knee injury. Sabalenka, bidding to become the first woman to successfully defend the US Open since Serena Williams completed a hat-trick of titles in 2014, extended sympathy to Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion. “So sorry for Marketa after all she’s been through. She has been playing amazing tennis and I know how badly this must hurt for her,” said Sabalenka, who has now reached the US Open semi-finals or better for five tournaments in a row.
The walkover sets up a repeat of last year’s US Open final in the last four, with Sabalenka facing American fourth seed Jessica Pegula on Thursday. Pegula reached the semi-finals earlier on Tuesday after a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of unseeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova. Pegula entered the US Open on the back of a dismal run of form that had seen her make early exits at WTA tournaments in Washington, Montreal, and Cincinnati. But she has rediscovered her confidence while moving stealthily through the rounds at New York, albeit against a series of unseeded opponents.
“I think I’ve been playing some really good tennis,” Pegula said after completing a 1hr 26min victory. Pegula said she is welcoming the chance to avenge last year’s final defeat to Sabalenka. “I think it would be cool to be able to get revenge, obviously,” she said.
© 2024 AFP
