Novak Đoković is an incorrigible perfectionist who knows how to criticize himself even when he records great victories. That’s what brought him to the point of being the best tennis player of all time.
He crushed Taylor Fritz with 6:3, 7:5, 3:6, 6:4, but he is still not completely happy. Now the absolute focus is on recovering as soon as possible, and there is one good news.
“Let’s see in two days how I will feel. The good thing is that I have two days without a match. It helps. I don’t feel fresh right now, but we’ll see then,” Đoković said at the beginning of the address.
He analyzed in detail what was happening against Fritz and how he managed to find the right decisions at the right time.
“Look, he was the better player in the second and third sets. I got out of the second one, I found a way to take it. Honestly, I didn’t play well for my standards, I didn’t feel the ball like I did in the last match. Taylor tries to be aggressive, to dictate, to punish, and I was trying to survive, to stay in the exchanges. It’s good that the first serve didn’t work for him for a while, but as soon as he picked up, it was very difficult for me to stay in the game. But, in the fourth I served well, went to the net, waited for my chance. I was only close to breaking him in one game and that was for the match. I played very withdrawn, waited for his mistakes, I didn’t feel my game. This is one of those matches – you work for it, so it brought a victory,” said the Serb.
Still, one thing left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“I’m disappointed that I wasted those two match points. He was missing first serves, he gave me a chance to be there, but I was just pushing the ball. Then I was defensive and missed two backhands. I got into the situation again by working for it, but in the end I wondered if I would go into the court at the serve or go back. I just wanted to change something, to give him a different perspective, I don’t know if that affected his double service error. The war in that game was great, we gave our best in it.”
He also explained whether he is thinking about whether he could win the US Open.
“It won’t be easier, that’s for sure! I have to take care of my body, to recover, in these two days I will prepare to be ready for five sets if necessary. I want to be ready for five sets with Carlos. I know that my best tennis is needed, I love to play on a big stage. I don’t know how my body will feel in the next few days, but I will do everything with the team to be ready for it. There will be a lot of running, there will not be many short points.”
He also touched on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner who now stand before him. Of course, provided that the Italian celebrates in the next two meetings as well.
“We don’t have to waste words on the two of them, the two best players in the world at the moment. I will try to spoil the plans of many people, they are playing the best tennis of all tennis players. They have been dominant from the start. I will not go with a white flag. I am in the GS semifinals again, what I said, I want to compete. Here is another chance, I hope I will be there to compete with Carlos, anyone can win,” Đoković finished.
Đoković’s record
No one has ever managed to reach all four Grand Slam semifinals seven times. In seven years, Đoković managed to do it!
He first did it in 2011, then 2012, 2013, 2015, 2021, 2023. and now in 2025. He even managed to win three out of four Grand Slams in a season four times! This means that he missed the calendar Grand Slam by one or two victories four times.
In addition, he is the oldest ever to reach four Grand Slam semifinals in a year at 38 years and 94 days.
Đoković now has a 38-1 record against home players (French at Roland Garros, English at Wimbledon, etc.). The only defeat? Against Andy Murray in the 2013 Wimbledon final.
Đoković also managed to record his ninth Top 5 victory at the US Open, so by that parameter he is now tied with Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.
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Source: Nova.rs; Photo: Printscreen Instagram @DjokerNole