Welcome to Ben Shelton’s biggest problem: Novak Djokovic’s incredible semi-final record at slams
The Serb has won 25 of his past 27 semi-finals at majors
Novak Djokovic, US Open 2023 – © Chryslène Caillaud / panoramic
If Ben Shelton is going to reach his first Grand Slam final – and first final of any kind on the ATP Tour – at the US Open, he will need to beat Novak Djokovic.
That, in itself, is a tough enough task. The winner of 23 slam titles, Djokovic is trying to win his 24th in all, which would put him level with the all-time record holder Margaret Court and further distance himself from the rest of the Big 3 in men’s tennis.
Djokovic’s win over Taylor Fritz in the quarters put him through to a record 47th career Grand Slam semi-final, breaking him loose of the men’s record he shared with Roger Federer. It is a record that meant a lot to him, as he described on court after beating the American.
Djokovic 25-2 in his last 27 Grand Slam semi-finals
The odds are against Shelton, who is making his breakthrough at the age of 20, somehow knocking off Djokovic, based on his reputation, his performances this past two weeks, his record this year and just the fact that at 36, he continues to set incredible standards.
But when you look at Djokovic’s record in slam semi-finals, his task looks even more ridiculous.
Djokovic has played 46 previous Grand Slam semi-finals, winning 35 of them and losing 11. That, in itself, is remarkable. But it’s even more incredible when you realise that since the start of 2014, Djokovic has won 25 of the 27 Grand Slam semi-finals he has played. He lost six of his first eight, before he turned into a Grand Slam winning machine.
His only defeats in that time came to Dominic Thiem in the Roland-Garros semis in 2019 and to Kei Nishikori in the 2014 US Open.
Nadal and Federer also had outstanding semi-final records
Let’s put that in context, comparing him to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Nadal, second on the all-time men’s list with 22 Grand Slam titles, has played 38 Grand Slam semi-finals, winning 30 of them. That, too, is an incredible set of figures. But more recently, Nadal has not had things quite his own way, losing five of his last 11 semi-final battles at majors.
And of Federer’s 46 slam semi-final appearances, the Swiss won 31 of them, losing 15, again, outstanding figures. Federer lost two of his last six and four of his last 10. The Swiss was dominant initially, though, winning 22 of his first 25 Grand Slam semi-finals.
