With a spectacular winning shot from the back of the court performed with astonishing ease, Novak Djokovic certified his victory against Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open (7-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3) and He became the first semi-finalist of the tournament after 3h44m of play.
His rival will be known after the conclusion of the clash between the Italian Jannik Sinner (3) and the Russian Andrey Rublev (5), in the last scheduled shift of the night on the Rod Laver Arena center court. "Sinner is playing the best tennis of his life. We have had very fair matches lately," he said about what could be his next rival.
The one from Belgrade got his eleventh place in the semifinals at Melbourne Park and equaled the local Jack Crawford, in a classification led by the Swiss Roger Federer with 15 appearances in the semifinals.
The heat could not ally itself with a Fritz who was about to beat him in his temple, the Rod Laver Arena, in the 2021 edition. On that occasion, the American equalized two sets of disadvantage and the Serbian miraculously recovered from an injury that prevented him from moving. The public had to be evacuated because the covid quarantine came into force at midnight and the ending was the same as always at Melbourne Park: Djokovic's victory.
Fritz, with glassy eyes, did not hide his dissatisfaction with the Serb's attitude at a press conference, but he was also unable to find the formula to finish off the most successful tennis player of all time.
Three years later, the only American representative in the draw had the opportunity to exact revenge for that fateful night in a day at Melbourne Park that attracted more people than in recent days, after the maximum temperature increased by eleven degrees , from 20 to 31, in a matter of one day.
Djokovic, who had played 15 consecutive matches at night before his clash in the previous round against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (20), physically suffered from the intense heat during the first two sets, which were extremely equal, against a Fritz who is ten years younger than the first world ranking.
The main difference at the end of the clash between both tennis players was the effectiveness with the serve, after Djokovic accumulated 82% of the points played with first serves, which he contracted with Fritz's 66%. This led to the Serbian having 21 break points throughout the match, while Fritz only had six opportunities.
Another of the big differences was the variety in the Serbian's tennis, which relies on serves and groundstrokes with different spin, height and depth, while the San Diego player abused the same one-dimensional proposal: powerful flat serves and fierce hits. from the baseline.
Fritz's quick shots lost steam when he returned from the bathroom, where he was for almost eight minutes, after the conclusion of the second set, after the intense sun hid behind the court and gave oxygen to a Djokovic who regained energy .
The reigning champion finished the match with 20 aces, 52 winners and 26 unforced errors.
Djokovic will have the opportunity to extend to 34 his winning streak that started in the first round of the 2019 edition, against the American Mitchell Krueger, and which became the longest during the last edition after surpassing former number one Andre Agassi , who won 26 games in a row.
