Forty minutes into his umpteenth big match under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Novak Djokovic seemed to be coming undone. After a supreme start, Djokovic’s first serve had suddenly deserted him. His ground strokes began to spew unforced errors. Up against the wall, he faced five break points while serving for the first set.
Each time he came close to falling into the abyss, allowing his distinguished opponent back into the match, Djokovic conjured up a spectacular response. That nerveless, clutch play would define his performance as Djokovic held off a spirited late comeback from a battling Taylor Fritz, who had been the superior player for significant parts of the match, and an increasingly unruly New York crowd to reach the semi-finals of the US Open with a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win.
