Novak Djokovic on course for 24th grand slam
Novak Djokovic turned down the opportunity to answer a reporter’s question at the US Open, after defeating Taylor Fritz 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals. He set up a final four clash with another American in 20-year-old Ben Shelton in just his fifth Grand Slam appearance, having reflected on Tuesday’s win.
But Djokovic was in no mood to analyse his victory over Fritz, against whom he has an excellent record against. The 36-year-old has won all eight of their encounters, while Fritz has won just two sets in those eight matches against the man who recently surpassed Roger Federer’s all-time record of semi-final appearances.
Djokovic clearly has Fritz’s number and was given the opportunity to explain why he is able to get the better of this particular opponent so successfully, shortly after the match in his press conference at Flushing Meadows.
When asked for Djokovic’s key to success against Fritz and what the American needs to do in order to get the better of him, the Serb did not want to give out any secrets. “I’m not gonna talk about what he needs to do to have a chance against me,” he said. “I am sure he is going to try and figure that out with his coach.”
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Djokovic understandably did not want to give an edge to a player he will feel more comfortable against in the latter stages of Majors, while also not handing out any extra information to upcoming opponent Shelton.
Fritz explained that there was a “simple” reason why he suffered another defeat to the 23-time Grand Slam winner, as his service game lacked the necessary quality in order to punish Djokovic at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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“As far as returning goes, I can’t ask for that much more, but I didn’t serve anywhere near good enough to compete with him,” conceded the American. “If I could serve to the standards I know I can serve to, maybe I could work with something and it would be a closer match.
“Novak being Novak, he’ll make me feel like I’m serving worse than I am and in other matches I wouldn’t get punished as much for missing first serves. Against him, I have to hit my spots. That’s just the way it is. I served awful. It sucked. He was solid and I just didn’t perform at my best on the big points. It’s as simple as that.”
While Fritz was willing to assess the match in length during his defeat, Djokovic was of a different opinion and opted against responding to a reporter’s question to analyse why he came on top once again.
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