Novak Djokovic is back at the stage of the Australian Open where he’s never been beaten.
The 10-time champion held off Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in 3 ¾ hours on Tuesday to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the 11th time.
He’s won all 10 semifinals he’s contested at Melbourne Park, and all 10 finals.
In his record-extending 48th Grand Slam semifinal, he’ll play No. 4-seeded Jannik Sinner or No. 5 Andrey Rublev. They started their quarterfinal at 10:42 p.m.
Djokovic has spent more time on court so far through five rounds than ever at Melbourne Park — more than 15 hours — but thinks he’s still building into it. He’s on a 33-match winning streak at the Australian Open — a tournament record he shared with his childhood inspiration, Monica Seles — so he should know.
The first game took 16 minutes and the first set lasted 1 hour, 24 minutes. Fritz got the first break of serve, and Djokovic said he was on the back foot at times until the third set.
“Credit to him for playing really well. You could see that he had a clear game plan. He was really sharp,” Djokovic said. “So it was definitely a struggle for me to play the first couple sets.
“In the third, things started to come together. I started to swing through the ball better. I started to feel better on the court. Serve, also. I wasn’t serving well at all first two sets, and then third and fourth, great.”
But Djokovic denied anymore twists by breaking back again for 5-3 and serving out.
Fritz said he played some of his best tennis to save all the break points but Djokovic kept lifting: “He’s so fast. He doesn’t really miss a lot of balls. It’s also the lack of free points he gives you.
“There is a dropoff … it was two sets, but, I mean, I’ve played four sets in that time,” Fritz added. “It’s tough to just sustain that level for probably two, three more hours that I needed to when I haven’t really gotten to play at that level and play against that level that often.”
Djokovic had beaten Fritz in straight sets in all but one of their previous eight encounters, including last year’s U.S. Open quarterfinals. The exception was here in Australia in 2021, when it went to five.
Djokovic was interviewed on court by Australian player Nick Kyrgios, who has been sidelined with a long-term injury.
The pair swapped banter before Djokovic suggested they get some popcorn, kick back on the couch and watch on TV as Sinner and Rublev compete for the other spot in the semifinal.
Gauff to play Aussie champion Sabalenka
Coco Gauff hopes she’s got her “bad” match out of the way at the Australian Open before meeting defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.
It’ll be a rematch of the U.S. Open final, which the 19-year-old Gauff won in three sets for her first major title.
Gauff is on a 12-match winning roll at the majors after rallying from 5-1 down in the first set to beat Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2 in a quarterfinal that lasted more than three hours.
Sabalenka is on a 12-match streak at Melbourne Park after her 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 9-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in the first match of the night session that didn’t start until after 9 p.m.
“I love it. I love it,” Sabalenka said of the showdown with Gauff. “After U.S. Open, I really wanted that revenge, and, I mean, that’s a great match.”
Gauff’s long three-setter had a knock-on effect that made for a long night at Melbourne Park.
