Djokovic gets to a record Grand Slam 47th semi-final after proving too clutch for Fritz

Novak Djokovic has never lost a quarter-final at the US Open. With a 47th Grand Slam semi-final on the way, he now owns the record for any male player in the Open Era, ahead of Roger Federer (46). The 36-year-old has also taken another Open Era record from the Swiss, with Djokovic now reaching the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments for the sixth time (five for Federer).

In order to achieve this, Djokovic did what Djokovic does best, winning virtually all of the significant points in his quarter-final match against Taylor Fritz (6-1, 6-4, 6-4). His 250th win over a Top 10 player: the most ever since the ATP rankings were introduced.

After a first set that he totally dominated even though it still took 44 minutes to win, the Serbian had to constantly keep his foot on the gas as Fritz was getting more and more into the match, serving better and better and finding openings from the baseline with his flat shots. But each time the match could have turned, the American came up against a wall. Djokovic in the end saved 10 break points out of 12 and converted six out of nine break points, whereas Fritz got just two from 12.

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In the third set, Djokovic proved especially clutched when it really mattered the most as he saved his serve from 15-40 at 3-2 and broke back immediately after losing his advantage at 4-3. He then saved another break point while serving for the match and got the win on his second match point. The Djoker kept his hand on the match even when it looked like it was going to swing the other way, and so now leads Fritz 8-0 which keeps making his mental edge even stronger on those infamous big points.

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