Watch: Djokovic loses cool, left fuming at US Open fan during Taylor ...

Sep 06, 2023 03:22 PM IST

Novak Djokovic on Tuesday extended his supremacy over Americans to 30 and Taylor Fritz to 8-0 in ATP meetings as he beat the ninth seed 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in Arthur Ashe Stadium to move two wins away from lifting his fourth US Open trophy. The Serb, who battle ed through extreme heat in New York, owns a staggering 13-0 record in the quarterfinals at the Flushing Meadows and had last lost to an American in 2016, against Sam Querry at Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic loses his cool during the match against Taylor Fritz in US Open

Albeit an easy and comfortable win for Djokovic that saw him reach a record 47th semifinal in his illustrious career, there was a moment when he had lost his cool during the match. It had happened during the third set when a fan screamed 'out' during the middle of the rally leaving Djokovic "distracted" and he snapped back at the fan after losing the point and then pointed towards his box with some message.

Addressing the issue later in the post-match conference, Djokovic revealed that he had asked his friends to "have a chat" with the fan which had distracted him as he was sitting alongside them in the stands.

"Yeah, he did," said Djokovic nodding his head when asked if the fan's act had distracted him. "He was actually in the box where some of my friends were. I don't know who the guy was, but yeah, I was pretty annoyed by him at that point. I was communicating with my friends to have a little chat with him."

The 36-year-old admitted that spectators making noise is part of the game especially when it is an intense clash or when a player in performing against a home favourite, but added that the act then had left him vexed and hence wanted to take an immediate action against the fan.

"Sometimes you react, but most of the time you don't," he added. "I speak for myself. Obviously there is whatever per cent of the time you don't react. People speak, they move around. You've got to be ready for that, particularly in the US Open, especially in the night sessions.

"It just, you know, that's part of it. It's part of the sport, and I don't, you know, mostly I don't mind it, but in those important moments when you're all of a sudden under a lot of stress and you're facing a break point and then all of a sudden everything annoys you and distracts you, so then you react.

"That's, again, the heat of the moment and playing on the highest level. I'm actually glad the crowd wants to get into it, because it means that the match is interesting, that they want to be part of it, that they're having fun. At the end of the day, they pay tickets to come and watch you play, so we try to put on a show and perform for them so they go back home satisfied that they have been here and enjoyed their day.

"Sometimes you might have an interaction with the player, you know, like this guy today, I'm sorry for him, but he was really annoying at that point. And that's it, you know, it happens."

Having made his 47th Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday, Djokovic went past the legendary Federer (46) for the most such appearances in Open Era. 13 of those have come in New York, which remains the highest for any player in ATP history. He also has 13 semifinal appearances in Wimbledon and 12 at French Open.

The Serb, who has won 23 of his last 24 matches, now stands a win away from making the finals at all four Grand Slams this year. It will also be the third time he has achieved this feat in his career after 2015 and 2021.