Djokovic Flies Past Fritz At US Open, Sets Slam SF Record, Shelton Wins; Alcaraz v Zverev, Russians

by Staff | September 6th, 2023, 12:41 am
  • 17 Comments

Novak Djokovic set yet another all-time record today at the US Open, cruising past American No. 1 Taylor Fritz 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 setting a new mark for most Grand Slam semifinals reached at 47, surpassing the tie he shared with Roger Federer.

“Today it was a great test, to see how it feels being on the court, quarterfinals against a top American. Taylor has been playing some great tennis this tournament, I thought,” Djokovic said. “But I was very determined. I had clarity on what I needed to be doing on the court.”

In the scorching afternoon heat, Djokovic blitz Fritz early and never was in trouble against the first-time US Open quarterfinalist who hadn’t dropped a set and only lost serve once en route.


“I am drenched in sweat and I saw Taylor changed shirt a couple of times. It was very humid conditions,” Djokovic said after. “Difficult to play for both players. But it is the same for both players and that is why we train. To try and get ourselves in the best possible condition to deliver. It is not easy, but you have to fight.”

Djokovic is now 8-0 against Fritz winning 18 of 20 sets. He’s also a perfect 13-0 in US Open quarterfinals.

“It wasn’t there at all. I thought I served awful. It sucks,” said Fritz. “It’s something that, like, everything feels good, the serve is not going in.

“It’s something I have to just get back and work on because it’s not something that I’m used to. My serve has always been pretty automatic for me and confident in it. It’s something new this year that I have been struggling a bit with.”

Djokovic will now take on the surprising Ben Shelton. The American didn’t win consecutive matches since his Australian Open quarterfinal has got the magic back this week winning five matches to reach the semifinals at the US Open.

Shelton came from a break down in the third set and then from a set point down in the breaker to beat Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2.

Tiafoe came out flat and Shelton powered through. But Tiafoe got back on top and then had control in a wacky third set which saw six breaks. Shelton had a set point serving 6-5 in the breaker but double faulted back-to-back to give Tiafoe a set point. But Shelton would belt a return winner and eventually win the set and never look back

The 20-year-old becomes the youngest American man in the US Open final four since Michael Chang in 1992. It’s also his first tour-level semifinal.

The semifinals will be on Friday.

Tomorrow, the last quarterfinals will see Carlos Alcaraz continuing his title defense against Alexander Zverev. The German is 2-0 against the Spaniard on hard courts and 1-0 in Slams, but that was all before Alcaraz was a Slam winners.

Alcaraz has won 11 straight matches at the US Open. He’s also fresh whereas Zverev has had to battle in his last two matches, going 4 hours, 41 minutes Monday.

During the day, an all-Russian battle pits Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev together for an eighth time. Medvedev leads 5-2 including two wins in Slam quarterfinals.

Rublev is 0-8 in Slam quarterfinals and with few expecting him to come through now, maybe this will be his time.

“We built our relationship because of tennis, but now it’s already bigger than tennis,” Rublev said of Medvedev. “We’ve known each other since we were six. We have a great relationship. He’s super honest, super relaxed. It’s super easy to communicate with him. Very humble. At the same time, he’s really, really funny. When you spend time with him, you always have fun.”

Said Medvedev: “We’re really close friends… I think we have a great relationship. Even if on the court we’re big competitors, nothing is going to come between us to separate us in real life.”


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17 Comments for Djokovic Flies Past Fritz At US Open, Sets Slam SF Record, Shelton Wins; Alcaraz v Zverev, Russians

Wog Boy Says:

Congratulations Nole on another record, I can’t think on any relevant tennis record that doesn’t say “Novak Djokovic – stands alone”, pretty impressive, no?

Talking about Arthur Ash stadium, it does look that whoever made decision to build such a big stadium and whoever designed it stuffed up big time!
I was watching Nole’s match in brutal conditions and that with closed roof and comparing it with Rod Laver Arena, RLA is way ahead in every comparison.

When you close the roof in RLA it becomes extremely comfortable to to watch or play regardless how hot and humid is outside, AC does a job perfectly, it appears excatly opposite in AA stadium.

When it is windy you don’t feel it that much in RLA while in AA it becomes even more swirly die to design.

RLA has perfect view for every seat, whether you sit close or in the last row, AA stadium top end (1/3 of fans) can’t see the tennis ball on court.

When you add that AO has 3 arenas with roof and can complete GS without interruption even if it is raining two weeks it is clear who has best GS facilities and that with quite a margin, like Nole records 😉


Wog Boy Says:

^^^
Of course, AA is the biggest tennis stadium in the world, wow 👏


FedExpress Says:

Joke of a draw for Nole. Weak era at its best.


skeezer Says:

Congrats on the Kid Shelton, big win for him, big serve. That breaker was crazy though. Hope he enjoys the next couple of days cause he will go down in a quick 3 to Djoker. He is too raw of a talent, needs more seasonings, and as usual this fan won’t be watching.
It will be interesting to see if Z has any more gas in the tank to take on Carlos, who seems slowly climbing into fitness form.


lylenubbins Says:

Great job, Ben. Wonder what the strategy will be against Novak . . . Crowd with be with him, that’s for sure.


Okiegal Says:

@Lyle….. Yep, the crowd will be with Ben big time! We will see how Joker handles the New York crowd! They can be brutal, and Novak does let the crowd get under his skin. I’m shocked that Novak will interact with the crowd, chatting it up and all. I have never seen Rafa do that. Well, one time a girl asked him to marry her, he looked toward her direction and smiled. 😊😊

I loved the Z/S match. If they had both collapsed at the end, I wouldn’t have been shocked. Very entertaining!!

@Zed……if you ever do make it to Oklahoma, be sure and go to OKC and visit the memorial of the Murrah Building bombing. It is very humbling. Oh, and you can wear whatever floats your boat!! Lol.

Watching Meddy and Rublev atm. Rub is hanging in there. These hot conditions are wearing them thin! It is extremely hot!! 💥🔥💥🔥


chrisford1 Says:

Test test test! Internet censor afoot.!


chrisford1 Says:

Internet censor used at Tennis X doesn’t want to hear how Arthur Ashe stadium is an unsafe heat trap and never designed right about winds, and air circulation and failing for PC over players ability to compete.
Next to Madrid, with it’s shoddy construction and poor management, the USO is the most hated venue for players (outside the money the US Ruling Elites throw at them.

Now I have to post parts of my post that was censored to see what “offending” word was banned.


chrisford1 Says:

As for the US0, they are more interested in honoring minority activists and doing various woke virtue signaling – than recognizing that the stadium built to honor a 3 – Slam black player with HOF admission but no “legend” credentials is a poorly designed, windy, heat trap for America’s Ruling Elites to congregate at and be seen at. Badly needs changes. The stadiunm and the hard left now in charge of American tennis.

As a major tennis place next to Madrid on players “hate to be there list’ Arthur Ashe, Billy Jean King Land, and Louis Armstrong are the worst venues – but money talks!


chrisford1 Says:

OK, that part of the post escaped the censors striking,
So lets see what was so “Offensive” about t the 2nd part.
Sorry for other posters but another case of censorship algorithms striking in America with no explanation on what words OFFEND!


chrisford1 Says:

The censorship seems to be related to the OKC reprisal for Ruby Ridge and Waco slaughters of innocent civilians by US Federal agents.
Right or wrong, McVeigh’s actions led to almost 30 years of Fed agents worried and highly reluctant to do armed slaughter raids – fearful about repercussions.
If they played Gestapo and brutalized US citizens on the FBI/DOJ directions, they will be hung out to dry. Our American Wannabe gun-toting fascist law enforcement need to see the fallout of FBI torturers, advancement hungry FBI agents desisting from playing Gestapo.


chrisford1 Says:

What seems to be censored is info that the OKC bomber was unaware Fed agent’s children were in the building getting free schooling and job perks as part of their armed agent benefits.


zed Says:

ChrisFord1, my posts do not go straight through most of the time. It seems they need to be vetted before being released to an unsuspecting world.

The three letter agencies are fully in the pocket of the Uniparty. It’s pointless hoping for some sort of return to a time when law enforcers were honest or when courts weren’t a tool of the Uniparty. It just ain’t gunna happen.

We need to look forward, look beyond the inevitable collapse to a time when the just and the strong start the long process of rebuilding from the ashes.

Tytler cycle in action.

The USA is well beyond the point of no return, the rest of the West not far behind. I’m thinking a couple of decades left at best, it might be sooner.


Giles Says:

I have to laugh. xyz complaining of being moderated! About time too, Stop writing shite and then you’ll be in the VIP lounge. Happy days.


Okiegal Says:

@Skeezer….. I had never seen the TX guidelines. Thanks for the link! I want to be a good citizen, and obey all the rules. Lol…. I’ll have to say, I don’t think the powers that be running this site are adhering to their own
rules‼️ 😳😳🤣🤣 Just sayin’……..


zed Says:

Giles, I’m not complaining, I’m making observations

p.s. From the rules

You could be placed in the moderation queue if you…

– Personally attack other posters

– Write pure nonsense

Seems to me you are guilty of those two Giles

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