Novak Djokovic toiled hard for three hours and 45 minutes before defeating Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2 and 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the final four of the International Australian tennis for the 11th time in his career.
The first game continued for 16 minutes, and the first set concluded after an hour and 24 minutes of play. In the end, the winning streak of Djokovic, the favorite, at Melbourne Park is now of 33 matches, a record he shares with Monica Seles.
After the match, Djokovic admitted that he was unsettled at times until around the third set.
“We must salute his work; he played very well, Djokovic noted about Fritz. His game plan was very clear in his head. He was very incisive. The first rounds gave me a lot of trouble.
“Then, in the third inning, things started to come together. I started to have better contact with the ball, to feel better on the pitch. In service, too. I didn’t serve very well in the first two sets, but it was much better in the third and fourth sets. »
Fritz saved the first of 15 break points offered to his opponent, a feat against one of the best returners in the history of modern tennis.
“I lacked opportunism, but in the end I managed to break it at the crucial moments,” explained the Serb. I increased my level of play in the middle of the third round, and continued until the end. »
For his part, Fritz said he had to play his best tennis to preserve all the break points offered to Djokovic, but stressed that the latter kept coming back to attack.
“He’s so fast. He rarely misses a shot. It gives very few points [dans une rencontre] », mentioned the American.
“There’s a breaking point… We had played two sets, but what I mean is that in the meantime it felt like I had played four sets,” Fritz continued. It’s difficult to maintain this level of play for another two or three hours, especially because we are not used to playing at this level on a frequent basis. »
The Serbian is undefeated in semi-finals and finals at the Australian Open, where he has won 10 of his 24 career Grand Slam titles.
He will face Italian Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, who defeated Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Djokovic is 4-2 in his career on the ATP Tour against Sinner, the tournament’s fourth seed. Sinner, however, won the last match between them, in the Davis Cup semi-finals, by a score of 6-2, 2-6 and 7-5.
Earlier in the day, Coco Gauff defeated Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2, reaching the semi-finals of the first major tournament of the year.
Fourth seed, Gauff saved two set points and overcame a 5-1 deficit in the first set.
She won in three hours and eight minutes against Kostyuk, 37th in the WTA.
Gauff committed 51 unforced errors and nine double faults, being limited to 17 winners.
“I’m very proud of how combative I was,” Gauff said. Marta is tough, our matches are always close. I really gave it my all.
“I had an opportunity in the second set, but I think I became passive. I really tried to be a little more aggressive in the third round. »
In the semi-finals, Gauff will face the defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian has been growing in confidence since the start of the tournament, and her 6-2, 6-3 victory over ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova was her fifth in a row in two sets.
The 19-year-old American obtained a 12th consecutive Grand Slam victory, including her triumph in New York last September.
The length of the matches on the day schedule pushed the start of the evening schedule past 9 p.m. local time, and Krejcikova kicked off the first of two scheduled quarterfinal matches at 9:09 p.m.
“I played some really good tennis,” Sabalenka said. I hope I can be as consistent [au prochain tour], or be even better. »