Novak Djokovic fights his way to the semifinals of the US Open in a sweaty match, setting a new record in the process. Coco Gauff is also in the last four.
Novak Djokovic sweated through three shirts, he shuffled across the pitch almost in slow motion between rallies, but after two and a half extremely sweaty hours he was allowed to roar out joy and relief.
The 36-year-old Serb defeated Taylor Fritz of the USA 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 at the US Open in New York to reach his 47th Grand Slam semi-final, once more than Roger Federer – new record.
The match was a special kind of challenge. At temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius and humidity of 50 percent, Djokovic stuck his shirt to his body after just a few games in the first set.
“It’s like tennis in the sauna,” commented Boris Becker on “sportdeutschland.tv”, “Djokovic is physically at the limit,” he observed in the second sentence. Three-time US Open winner Djokovic admitted: “It was very muggy. It was very difficult to play. It wasn’t easy.”
Lots of mistakes on both sides
The conditions didn’t contribute to the level of the match either: both players acted very erroneously. Djokovic, however, managed to divide his forces well, lurking for his break chances and using them with great efficiency.
On the other hand, Fritz, who had made it into the quarter-finals for the second time in one of the four Grand Slams without losing a set (after Wimbledon 2022), left too many chances, especially in the third set, to be able to turn the match around.