Record 64th Grand Slam quarterfinal for Djokovic at US Open; Sabalenka roars
Djokovic to face Taylor Fritz in quarterfinals; Sabalenka to take on a former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova
New York: Novak Djokovic was cruising along with a big early lead in his U.S. Open fourth-round match on Sunday night when his neck started bothering him. That didn’t stop Djokovic from dominating 144th-ranked qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his record 64th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“What gives me a lot of encouragement right now, and positivity, is the way I played tonight,” Djokovic said. “Best performance of the tournament so far. Hopefully I can keep that going.”
Djokovic was ahead 4-0, 15-love when he hit a nicely angled volley winner to go up 30-love in that game. The 24-time Grand Slam champion immediately grabbed at the back of his neck and started turning his head.
The 38-year-old Djokovic kept trying to stretch his neck or flex his right shoulder between points, and he went on to drop that game and the next one, too. But he soon regained the upper hand against Struff, who beat Frances Tiafoe in the previous round and was trying to get to a major quarterfinal for the first time.
After improving to 8-0 against Struff, Djokovic now carries a 10-0 head-to-head record into his quarterfinal on Tuesday against 2024 U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz.
“I expect players that never won against me to come out on the court and try something different and try to make me feel maybe uncomfortable and play more aggressive, or not, whatever,” Djokovic said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any major changes with Taylor, because, obviously, you stick to the kind of game plan that got you to the quarters, and you know what your strengths are … which for him obviously is serve and forehand.” The No. 4-seeded Fritz, the last American man in the bracket, moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory Sunday against No. 21 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic.
“The thing is, I think it’s spanned over so many years. The first almost seven or eight times I played him, I probably just wasn’t a good enough player to really have that much of a chance unless I have the best day ever and he has a bad day,” Fritz said. “Only the last couple times we’ve played, I think, I’ve been this just better player that can, I’d say, compete and have chances.” After Djokovic finished off that opening set against Struff, he was visited by a trainer for treatment during the ensuing changeover. Djokovic was given a massage to his neck and shoulder.
If he was still in discomfort, his play wasn’t really affected at all. During the break after that set, Djokovic had his right forearm massaged. But again, there were no signs of trouble when the ball was in play.
Djokovic had trainers work on him earlier in the tournament, too, including for blisters on a foot in the first round and for a lower-back issue in the third.
He’s won four championships in New York, most recently in 2023.
Sabalenka beats Cristina Bucsa
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka dominated Cristina Bucsa 6-1, 6-4 to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive year.
The win marks the fifth consecutive year that Sabalenka has made it to at least the quarterfinal round in Flushing Meadows, with her previous four trips resulting in semifinal appearances or better.
The 73-minute win also assures that Sabalenka will officially stay No. 1 in the world rankings after the tournament, regardless of any other results.
Sabalenka has now reached the quarterfinals in each of the last 12 majors that she has contested, solidifying her position as a top contender.
A matchup of Grand Slam champions awaits Sabalenka in the quarterfinals as she’ll take on a former Wimbledon winner champion Marketa Vondrousova, who prevailed in a battle of former Wimbledon champions, defeating No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in 1 hour and 51 minutes to advance to the US Open quarterfinals for the second time in her career.
Against Vondrousova, Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 5-3, including a second-round win, also taking place in Cincinnati a few weeks ago.
A win against either opponent would send Sabalenka to a fifth straight US Open semifinal.
Earlier, Jessica Pegula advanced to the quarterfinals with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over Ann Li in an all-American matchup.
Pegula needed only 54 minutes to move past the 25-year-old Li, who was playing in her first fourth-round match at a major championship and fell to 1-9 against Top 10 competition.
Pegula’s dominant win over Ann Li in the fourth round was her 19th match win at Flushing Meadows, now her highest tally at any of the four majors.
“I played (Li) at Roland Garros early this year, and we had a really tough two sets. And I know when she’s serving really well, and she has a lot of confidence, she’s really dangerous,” Pegula said.
“I felt like maybe she came out a little slow or nervous or whatever it was, and I just felt like I wanted to jump on top of that and not let her feel comfortable on this court for a second. And I felt like that was really my entire motivation the entire match,” she said.
Pegula improves to 8-2 in Grand Slam fourth-round matches, including 3-1 at that stage at her home major championship. IANS
