NEW YORK – Never baffled, rarely baffled, Novak Djokovic picks up on the best five-set matches even when he lags behind, as he has repeatedly done at this US Open.
No opponent – or the prospect of what is at stake – has been too much to control. Not yet, anyway. And now, Djokovic is two wins away from the first men’s tennis Grand Slam of the calendar year since 1969, along with a 21st major men’s major championship overall.
Djokovic ceded the opening set for the third game in a row to Flushing Meadows (and the ninth time in a major in 2021), but again it didn’t matter, because he quickly corrected his blows and won No. 6 head, Matteo Berrettini, by 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in quarterfinals that began Wednesday night and ended after midnight on Thursday.
Djokovic then cut a question during his interview on the track, understanding where he was going, and said, “Don’t ask me anything about the story. I know it’s there.”
When he returned and improved to 26-0 in the Grand Slam play this season, Djokovic found every angle, thwarted all of Berrettini’s great shots and was so close that he dove and dropped the racket during an exchange still which revolted, rose, and was reintroduced to the point. He lost it, but the message to his enemy was unmistakable.
After 17 unforced errors in the first set, Djokovic made a total of 11 the rest of the way.
“The three best sets I’ve played in the tournament, for sure,” he said.
When Berrettini reached one last position, maintaining a break point while going 4-2 in the third set, Djokovic consolidated. He let Berrettini put a reverse on the net, summoned a 121 mph ace and a first-hand winner down the line to hold him, and then pointed his right index finger to his ear, one of many gestures he called for. to the crowd of 20,299 people at Arthur. Ashe Stadium means noise.
Four minutes later, that set was his. And 42 minutes later, the match was over.
Djokovic already won trophies at the Australian Open Hard Tracks in February, the French Open Clay Tracks in June and the Wimbledon Lawn Tracks in July, defeating Berrettini in the final of the Australian Open. All England Club.
Djokovic has added five victories to the tough tracks of the American Open and now faces 2020 runner-up Alexander Zverev in Friday’s semifinals. If Djokovic can win this match and Sunday’s final, he will join Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) as the only men to win the four major individual tennis trophies in a season. Three women have done so, most recently Steffi Graf in 1988; Serena Williams ’bid in 2015 ended in the semifinals of the American Open.
Another Slam title will also break the mark that Djokovic shares with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Zverev enters the semifinals with a 16-game winning streak, including a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 semifinal victory against Djokovic en route to the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I’m pumped,” Djokovic said, looking ahead to what he expects. “The bigger the challenge, the more glory in overcoming it.”
The other men’s semifinal is No. 2 by Daniil Medvedev, a two-time senior finalist, against No. 12 by Felix Auger-Aliassime. On Tuesday they won their quarterfinals.
Zverev, a 24-year-old German player, ranked No. 4, advanced Wednesday afternoon by beating Lloyd Harris 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4.
Hours later, both Djokovic and Berrettini showed signs of nerves on a busy afternoon with the temperature at 75 degrees and humidity at 80%. Applause, whistles and roars preceded the initial service, a 124 mph ace for Djokovic, three-time U.S. Open champion.
The tournament was banned a year ago due to the coronavirus pandemic, fans are clearly enjoying being part of it all again.
They created a leak of competitive chants from Djokovic’s nickname, “No-him! No-him!” and an abbreviated version of Berrettini’s first name, “Kill yourself! Kill yourself!” Some hailed Djokovic’s missed beatings with applause, considered no-no in the sport, and some – perhaps the same people – lamented Berrettini’s failures with a community “Awwwww”.
Djokovic’s form was not in its early stages, with more errors than he could comprehend; he rolled his eyes, put a palm to his forehead, and murmured to his followers.
Berrettini used his 6-foot 5, 209-pound frame to generate punishing power on the front doors and toes; Djokovic called him the “tennis hammer.”
But if any player is equipped to turn off this style, it is Djokovic, whose instincts, reflexes, agility and mobility are superior. So, unlike most other players, he can return a 131 mph serve and not only get it in play, but do so with enough intention to lead to a lost setback from Berrettini, as happened when Djokovic broke the score 3-1 in the second set.
Still, Berrettini managed to deflect the pair of break points from the first set he faced with the winners of the booming service (one at 132 mph, the other 134 mph) and then converted his fourth chance with a first-line cross-country winner to lead 6 -5. A game and four points from seven, Berrettini owned the opening thanks to a wandering close-up from Djokovic.
The match had already been 77 minutes. Berrettini went to the bathroom for a break to change his clothes; Djokovic sat on the sidelines, put a white towel around his neck, and began the process of getting ready to turn things around, as he does so many times.
“I managed to forget about it, keep going,” Djokovic said.
He also lost the first set in the third round, against Kei Nishikori, and in the fourth, against Jenson Brooksby, before winning four on both occasions. He also did it against Berrettini at Wimbledon.
Perhaps, Djokovic joked after that match, the initial deficits equate to “good tactics, in a way.”
It did not take long for Djokovic to prevail this time, thanks in large part to the cleanliness of his car reducing errors, with three in the second set and three in the third, during which the retractable roof was closed due to the expected rain.
Just holding the service became an ordeal for Berrettini, so much so that he let out a sigh of relief when he finally held on after breaking three times in a four-game span in the two central sets. By then, however, he had already given away the second and had fallen behind 3-0 in the third. The fourth also achieved that score and Djokovic was one step closer to history.