Novak Djokovic powered into the 48th Grand Slam semi-final of his career as the 10-time Australian Open champion dismissed Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday.
The 24-time titleholder at the majors beat the American for the ninth time without a defeat, moving through in three and three-quarter hours..
The match was delayed for several hours due to a women’s match which ran to three hours.
Djokovic needed five sets to beat Fritz here in 2021; the Californian has now lost all eight of his career meetings with world No. 1 players and stands 0-9 against the 36-year-old Serb.
The pair struggled for 85 minutes to get through the opening set. Fritz struck back to win the second.
But Djokovic broke twice in the third set to regain the lead and dominated through one more set for the victory, his 99th in Melbourne, his most successful Grand Slam.
Fritz lost in a Slam quarter-final for the third time.
Djokovic finished with 20 aces and only converted on four of 21 break chances.
“I managed to break when it mattered in the third and fourth sets,” Djokovic told guest interviewer Nick Kyrgios, once his mortal online enemy.
“I upped my game midway through the third set, I served extremely well.”
Djokovid said winning was a struggle.
“I suffered a lot in the first couple of sets due to his high quality.
“He was suffocating me from the back of the court. I was on the back foot in most of the rallies.
“It was tough to find the right timing and it was hot when the sun was out. It was a physical and emotionally draining match.”
