Taylor Fritz arrives at the US Open quarterfinals confronting two linked challenges: he is seeking his first Grand Slam title in his 37th attempt and he has yet to record a win over Novak Djokovic in 10 previous meetings. The American is 0-10 against the Serbian and has reached this stage after a straight-set victory over Tomas Machac.

Those statistics underline the scale of the task ahead. In their prior 10 matches, dating to 2019, Fritz won just three sets, all at the Australian Open. When they met in this round two years ago in New York, Djokovic swept him, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Fritz has been candid about the gap. “I think the first, almost like seven or eight times I played him, I probably just wasn’t a good-enough player to really have that much of a chance,” he said on Sunday night.

A central technical mismatch is Djokovic’s return versus Fritz’s serve. Fritz noted Djokovic’s ability to attack second serves and to combine that with baseline consistency. “I think what makes it tough is he serves well, he serves aggressive on second serves,” Fritz said. “It’s tough to take advantage of his serve for how well he also returns and just is from the baseline.” He added, “He backs it up incredibly well with the serve. So it’s tough to sometimes get on him the way that he’s, I guess, getting on you with the return.”

Djokovic, meanwhile, expects opponents who have not beaten him to change their approach. “That was the case with Norrie, actually, last round,” Djokovic said. “I mean, he was playing more aggressively than he has ever played against me. So that’s something I expect. I expect players that never won against me to come out on the court and try something different and try to make me feel maybe uncomfortable and play more aggressive.”

Fritz recognises the mental difference when facing the elite. “But against the top guys…because you’re playing someone who they’re where they’re at for a reason, they’re not just going to hand it over to you, they’re not just going to give you a random mistake on a big point,” Fritz says. “You have to maybe pull the trigger and go out and take it from them.”

“I need to play more to win and not to lose, if that statement makes sense.” Both players reached the quarterfinals in strong form; Fritz’s straight-set win was followed by Djokovic’s own straight-set victory over Jan-Lennard Struff.

Gilles Cervara, who ended an eight-year partnership with Daniil Medvedev after the Russian’s round-one exit at Flushing Meadows, has set out how the match might have been handled differently. The split was confirmed on Sunday following a contest dominated by an on-court interruption and a lengthy dispute with the chair umpire.

The pairing produced significant success, including Medvedev’s 2021 US Open title and 16 weeks as world No 1. But the 29-year-old’s form has slipped in 2025, marked by three consecutive round-one Grand Slam exits. His latest defeat, to Benjamin Bonzi, followed an earlier loss to the same French opponent at Wimbledon.

The US Open match was overshadowed when a photographer stepped onto the court as Bonzi held match point on serve in the third set, entering the field of play between first and second serves. Umpire Greg Allensworth re-awarded a first serve, a decision that sparked a six-minute argument and saw Medvedev rile the crowd. Bonzi was visibly distracted when play resumed, was bagelled in the fourth set, then rallied from a break down in the decider to close out the match.

In his first interview since the split with Medvedev, Cervara reflected on his former player’s temperament and the match situation. “Daniil is stubborn, which is a strength and a weakness in certain situations,” said Cervara. “He expressed the fact that he did not agree with the referee and he has the right to do so. He adds fuel to the fire, which can be criticised.

“But the public gets involved, and he continues because he thinks it is beneficial to destabilise the entire match, and not the opponent. Like any competitor, he senses that there is a gap and he rushes into it.”

Cervara said he would have tried a different approach were he Bonzi’s opponent. He added: “If I had been his opponent, when we feel that things were going to take terrible proportions, I would have said to Daniil: ‘It’s fine, I’ll make a second serve, don’t worry.’ To cut the rug out from under Daniil’s feet and put out the fire right away.

“Benjamin had won the match. He put the ball in the court three times, it was over. Daniil turns the tables, sends him spiralling, distracts him from whatever is currently bothering him.

“He’s playing tennis again, he’s no longer bothered by this ‘stuff,’ but in the fifth set he’s confronted again with what’s been holding him back all season when he’s on the verge of winning.”

Carlos Alcaraz has offered a forceful rebuttal to questions about his consistency during a 2025 season defined by deep major runs, a series of finals and near-flawless form in New York.

The world No 2 and five-time Grand Slam champion reached his fourth US Open quarter-final this week after a straight-sets victory over Arthur Rinderknech. That result completed a first for Alcaraz: he has, for the first time in his career, reached at least the last eight of all four majors in a single season.

Earlier in 2025 he made the Australian Open quarter-finals, successfully defended his French Open title and reached a third straight Wimbledon final. At 22 years and 11 days he is older only than Pete Sampras (1993) and Rafael Nadal (2008) when achieving the same major-quarter milestone. He has already recorded 21 Grand Slam match wins this year, surpassing his previous best of 19 from last season, and can still finish 2025 with a maximum of 24 major wins.

At Flushing Meadows he stands out among the eight men’s quarter-finalists as the only player yet to drop a set. Over the tournament he has only twice lost more than four games in a set: the second set of his opening match against Reilly Opelka and the first set against Rinderknech. That single-set dominance followed stronger, cleaner performances in the second and third rounds when he dropped a combined 10 games against Mattia Bellucci and 32nd seed Luciano Darderi.

The broader season record underlines his form. Alcaraz has won six titles this year, matching his 2023 total, and since a March loss to David Goffin in Miami he reached the final of his next seven events through Cincinnati. He beat Lorenzo Musetti to win Monte Carlo, lost to Holger Rune in Barcelona, withdrew from Madrid, beat Jannik Sinner in both the Italian Open and French Open finals, defeated Jiri Lehecka at Queen’s and prevailed in Cincinnati after Sinner retired at Wimbledon.

Since Miami he has won 43 of 45 matches, a 95.56 percent win rate, with only defeats to Rune and Sinner and nine of those wins coming against top-10 players. Before the clay swing he held a 15-4 record and collected his first indoor title at Rotterdam in February. Ahead of his US Open quarter-final against Lehecka, Alcaraz sits on a 90.63 percent win rate for 2025, on track to surpass his previous career bests of 84.42 percent in 2023 and 80.33 percent in 2024.