Forty minutes into yet another epic night on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Novak Djokovic appeared to be unraveling. After a blistering start, his first serve went missing, his groundstrokes wavered, and unforced errors began to pile up. Serving for the opening set, he suddenly faced five break points that threatened to swing momentum toward Taylor Fritz.

But as he has done throughout his career, Djokovic rose to the occasion. Each time he teetered on the edge, he produced clutch brilliance, saving 11 of 13 break points in total. That resilience would ultimately define his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over a fearless Fritz and an increasingly hostile New York crowd, propelling the 38-year-old Serbian into yet another US Open semi-final.

Already the oldest man in the Open Era to reach the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slams in a single season, Djokovic has now reached the semi-finals at each major in 2025. “Incredibly close match, it was really anybody’s match,” Djokovic reflected. “I thought I was lucky to save some crucial break points in the second set. For most of the second and third sets, he was the better player. In these kinds of matches, a few points decide the winner, and fortunately, they came on my side.”

The win further cements Djokovic’s supremacy against the elite field. He has now defeated three top-five opponents – Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, and Fritz – across this year’s Grand Slam campaigns. Next, he will again lock horns with Alcaraz, one of the rising forces who symbolize the next generation of men’s tennis. Earlier, the Spanish world No. 2 had eased into the semis with a straight-sets win over Jiri Lehecka.

Fritz, meanwhile, battled valiantly but ultimately faltered at critical moments. The American No. 1, who entered Arthur Ashe wearing his “Boss” bandana upside down so that it read “ssob,” showed flashes of brilliance with his booming serve and aggressive baseline play. But when finally breaking Djokovic after 10 failed attempts in the second set, he immediately surrendered his own serve with a double fault. Later, despite harnessing the crowd’s energy to force a fourth set, Fritz’s nerves betrayed him once more as Djokovic pounced to seal the match.

Although Fritz fell short, his fight was undeniable. For the better part of two sets, he had been the superior player, but when the stakes peaked, Djokovic’s unmatched poise prevailed. “At the end of the day, the win matters,” Djokovic said. “I’m really proud of the fight that I put in. I wear my heart on my sleeve, always, for this sport, and I’m still enjoying it.”