Novak Djokovic is through to the 2024 Australian Open semifinals, but it was a hard-fought win over Taylor Fritz for the Serbian.
Taking on the tall American is never easy, especially when he's serving well. That was the case early on in this quarterfinal match at the Rod Laver Arena, which started much later than expected after Coco Gauff took over three hours to beat Marta Kostyuk.
And the two seemed to be in a mood to follow the trend, as the first set was a real dog-fight. Neither seemed to be able to break as Djokovic left eight break points unused, while the American didn't convert his two set points.
That meant that the opening set had to be decided in a tie-break, and it was the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who was the better player in the seven-point shootout, winning it 7-3 to win the first set after an hour and 26 minutes.
But if Djokovic thought his opponent would give up after that, he was wrong. Fritz broke his opponent in the opening game of the second set and after that, he saved seven break points to win the second set 6-4.
It was first time in Djokovic's career when he didn't convert any of his first 15 break points, and things were looking good for his opponent, who was playing a really good match, but that's when the Serbian stepped up.
Djokovic played almost a flawless third set, hitting 14 winners, while making only one unforced error, and converting both of his break points, to win the second set easily 6-2.
In the fourth set, Fritz still fought for the win, breaking the Serbian back after being broken, but still, Djokovic was the better player, winning the match 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open.
In his semifinal match, which he never lost in Melbourne, the 36-year-old will await the winner of the match between Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev.
Novak Djokovic vs Taylor Fritz Match Stats:
| Novak Djokovic | Taylor Fritz | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Aces | 16 |
| 3 | Double Faults | 2 |
| 63% | First Serve % | 58% |
| 82% (59/72) | Points Won After First Serve % | 66% (59/90) |
| 58% (25/43) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 48% (31/64) |
| 19% (4/21) | Break Point Conversion | 33% (2/6) |
| 52 | Winners | 63 |
| 26 | Unforced Errors | 39 |
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