Djokovic gets into it with U.S. Open crowd while beating American Fritz to reach semifinals

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic took a two-set lead against Taylor Fritz, an opponent he always beats, to close in on the semifinals, a round he often reaches at the U.S. Open, and marked the occasion by blowing kisses to those in Tuesday night’s crowd pulling for the final American man in the field.

That was just a taste of the back-and-forth between Djokovic and some of the folks in the Arthur Ashe Stadium seats, and there was still work that remained, but he would finish off a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory. Djokovic improved to 11-0 against 2024 runner-up Fritz and reached a record-extending 53rd Grand Slam semifinal, a total that includes a record-tying 14 at Flushing Meadows.

The No. 4-seeded Fritz’s exit means the U.S. drought will continue without a male singles champion at any major since 2003, when Andy Roddick won in New York.

On Friday, Djokovic will play in his fourth Slam semifinal of the season and take on five-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, who hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament. He was a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 winner against No. 20 Jiri Lehecka earlier Tuesday.

Djokovic leads No. 2 seed Alcaraz 5-3 head-to-head, winning their two most recent matchups — in the Australian Open quarterfinals this January and in the final at the Paris Olympics last year, when the Serbian finally fulfilled his wish to win a gold medal for his country.

The last two men’s quarterfinals are Wednesday: Australian Alex de Minaur versus Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, and defending champion Jannik Sinner versus Lorenzo Musetti in an all-Italian matchup at night.

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press