Djokovic fends off Fritz to become third oldest US Open men's semifinalist

NEW YORK: 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 last 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 semi-final, a total that includes a record-tying 14 at Flushing Meadows.

“In the end of the day, a win matters. I'm really proud of the fight that I put in. I wear my heart on my sleeve, always, for this sport. So I'm still enjoying it,” Djokovic said. “It was really anybody's match. … For most of the second and third sets, he was the better player. That last game was nerve-wracking.”

He needed three match points to end it, and was leaning over, hands on knees, after the first two resulted in long rallies that went Fritz's way. But on the last, the contest ended anticlimactically with a double-fault by No 4-seeded Fritz, whose exit means the US 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 semi-final 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 quarter-final 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.

Bhambri reaches maiden Slam quarters

Indian player Yuki Bhambri reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, progressing to the last-eight of the US Open men's doubles competition with partner Michael Venus here.

The 14th seeded Indo-New Zealand combination knocked out fourth-seeded German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 23 minutes.

They will next take on Croatia's Nikola Mektic and American veteran Rajeev Ram, who are the 11th seeds in the draw.

Maaya goes down in Junior category

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi gave a scare to second seed Hannah Klugman of Britain before going down in the girls singles second round 7-6 (1) 4-6 6-3. She battled for two hours and two minutes.

Maaya had an opportunity to break Klugman when the British player was serving for the match but she found a way to survive, consistently attacking the backhand of the Indian.

Later, Maaya also bowed out of the doubles event along with partner Laima Cinalli, going down 2-6 2-6 to fourth seeds Luna Vladson and Jeline Vandromme.

Hitesh Chauhan and Krish Tyagi also lost their respective boys doubles second round matches to exit the tournament.