NEW YORK – Novak Djokovic made Grand Slam historical past on the age of 38 on Sunday with a commanding 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff, however the triumph got here at a value – his quarter-final match falls on his daughter’s birthday.
“Yeah, she was not very glad about it, me being absent from the celebration. Do not remind me of that, please,” mentioned Djokovic, who turned the oldest man to succeed in all 4 Grand Slam quarter-finals in a single season.
The victory additionally moved Djokovic into his sixty fourth Grand Slam quarter-final, extending his all-time file, whereas holding alive his pursuit of a file twenty fifth main title.
However the Serbian’s thoughts was clearly on household issues as he spoke concerning the sacrifice required at this stage of his profession.
“I will attempt to win if I am right here. Not less than I will attempt to win and provides her that sort of current,” Djokovic mentioned.
“I will ship some good presents, as nicely, good surprises for her celebration.”
The match itself was a masterclass in expertise over energy throughout the 109-minute encounter at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic dominated from the opening sport, breaking the 35-year-old German’s serve six occasions. His personal serve proved decisive towards a participant who entered the match with the match’s second-highest ace rely at 66.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion fired 12 aces whereas profitable 79% of first-serve factors and utterly neutralized Struff’s largest weapon.
“It undoubtedly helps in the event you serve nicely. I feel I had an excellent serving efficiency within the final spherical and likewise tonight,” Djokovic mentioned.
“I simply noticed the stats, I out-served one of many guys that had essentially the most aces throughout the match this yr, in order that’s an excellent stat. Clearly, that helps make my life simpler on the court docket.”
Struff, ranked 144th on this planet, had defeated two seeded gamers – Holger Rune (eleventh) and Frances Tiafoe (seventeenth) – to succeed in his first U.S. Open fourth spherical however was unable to place any critical strain on the seventh seed.
The German managed solely 19 winners and dedicated 32 unforced errors.
Their mixed age of 73 years and 60 days made this the oldest U.S. Open males’s singles match within the fourth spherical or later throughout the skilled period.
Djokovic, who now has a 36-0 file towards qualifiers at Grand Slams, required therapy from the physio on his proper shoulder and forearm throughout the match however didn’t seem overly troubled by the problems.
Whereas he’s heading in the direction of a possible semi-final towards world quantity two Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic mentioned he was not trying past his quarter-final opponent Taylor Fritz.
“For me, final couple of years, I discovered one factor proper now could be to take actually one match at a time,” he added. —Reuters