Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will meet in the US Open semi-final, marking the ninth ATP Tour meeting between the two and a rare Grand Slam milestone. Djokovic reached the last four after defeating Taylor Fritz in four sets, while Alcaraz advanced with a straight-sets win over Jiri Lehecka.

Their semi-final at Flushing Meadows will be the first meeting between them at the US Open and will complete a run of matches at all four majors. They previously met in the semi-final of the French Open in 2023, in consecutive Wimbledon finals in 2023 and 2024, and in the semi-final of this year’s Australian Open. They have achieved this set of Grand Slam meetings in just three years.

That record separates them from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who met 40 times but never at the US Open. Djokovic and Alcaraz have also faced one another at the Olympics and at the ATP Finals semi-final stage. Djokovic won their Olympic meeting, taking the gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Games.

Djokovic leads the head-to-head 5-3 following victories at the Paris Olympics last August and at the Australian Open earlier this year. He is a 24-time Grand Slam champion and has reached the semi-final stage at all four majors this season, a feat he has accomplished for a seventh time in his career. He is yet to play a Grand Slam final in 2025, having retired from his match against Alexander Zverev at Melbourne Park and lost to Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Djokovic has also drawn level with Jimmy Connors for the most US Open semi-final appearances, reaching the last four for a 14th time. Aged 38 years and 94 days, he is the oldest man in the Open Era to reach all four Grand Slam semi-finals in a single season.

“I’ve been very consistent, mostly consistent on the Slams this season, and that’s what I said at the beginning of the year, where I would like to perform my best tennis and make the best results,” he said.

“So here we are. You know, I have another chance and another shot. Hopefully, as I said, I can be fit enough and play well enough to. To. To keep up with. With Carlos and. And then it can be anybody’s match.”

Novak Djokovic said he was not at peak freshness after his fourth-round victory over Taylor Fritz at the US Open, but he made clear he will not concede when he meets Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final. The 24-time Grand Slam champion has battled a string of niggles at the hard-court major, from blisters to a back issue and shoulder trouble, yet progressed to the last four by extending his perfect record against Fritz to 11-0.

Djokovic won 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, dropping a set to the American and admitting he would have preferred to finish in three. Aged 38, he accepted Fritz was the better player through portions of the second and third sets and was relieved to come through.

“It was an incredibly close match. It was really anybody’s match. I thought I was lucky to really save crucial breakpoints in the second set,” the four-time US Open champion said. “For most of the second and third set he was the better player. In these kinds of matches, few points decide the winner. It was fortunately coming on my side, particularly at the end of the fourth set.”

Djokovic will return on Friday to face Alcaraz in their ninth meeting. The veteran leads their head-to-head 5-3, with his two most recent wins coming at this year’s Australian Open and in the gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics last August.

He welcomed the break in the schedule ahead of the semi-final and outlined his recovery plan. “Good thing about the schedule is now that I have two days without a match, so that helps a lot,” he said. “So I don’t feel very fresh at the moment. But hopefully in two days will be different.

The seventh seed added: “It’s not going to get easier, I tell you that. But look, as I said, I’m going to try to take one day at a time, really take care of my body, try to relax and recover.

“The next couple of days is really key for me to really get my body in shape and ready to battle five sets if it’s needed. So I just would really love that, would love to be fit enough to play and to play, you know, potentially five sets with Carlos. And I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I rise to the occasion.

“Normally, I like to play the big matches on a big stage. It’s just that I’m not really sure how the body is going to feel in the next few days. But, you know, I’m going to do my very best with my team to be fit for that. There’s going to be a lot of running involved, that’s for sure. I mean, there’s not going to be short points.”

With Carlos Alcaraz and defending champion Jannik Sinner seen as the pre-tournament favourites, Djokovic made his intentions clear about upsetting expectations. “We don’t need to spend words about two of them. You know, we know that they’re two best players in the world,” he said. “Everybody’s probably expecting and anticipating the finals between two of them. I’m going to try to, you know, mess up the plans of most of the people and let’s see, you know, Sinner still has to win a couple of matches to get to the finals, but they are playing definitely the best tennis of any player here.

“They’ve been the dominant force since the beginning of the tournament, but, you know, I definitely am not going with the white flag on the court. I don’t think anybody does, really, when they play them, but particularly not me.

“I put myself in another semi-final of a Grand Slam this year. I’ve been very consistent, mostly consistent on the Slams this season, and that’s what I said at the beginning of the year, where I would like to perform my best tennis and make the best results.”

Novak Djokovic moved into the US Open semifinal with a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Taylor Fritz, setting up a meeting with Carlos Alcaraz. The match was competitive across four sets, but Djokovic again proved decisive on the points that mattered most.

Fritz acknowledged the gulf between them plainly. “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 pushed Djokovic, raised his serving level, and exploited a concentration dip from Djokovic at times, but could not finish the job.

Stylistically the two players resembled one another: similar builds, heavy baseline games, semi-Western forehands and two-handed backhands. Fritz produced more aces and won a higher percentage of first-serve points, yet Djokovic did marginally more on nearly every other measure. He extended rallies, placed shots closer to the lines, and transitioned better. Djokovic was also the more reliable returner and defender.

Serving proved pivotal. Djokovic saved 11 of 13 break points overall; Fritz saved five of nine. A turning sequence came in the second set: Fritz broke late to level at 5-5, but then double faulted twice, the second at break point, to hand Djokovic the set. Earlier in that set Djokovic had been forced to survive multiple break-point threats, and he held his nerve.

“In many of my service games I was just trying to stay alive, fight for every ball,” Djokovic said. “He was aggressive, staying close to the line, not easy to play him.” Djokovic added later: “I was lucky to save some crucial break points in the second set,” and “For most of the second and third set, he was the better player.”

Fritz remained competitive into the fourth set and matched Djokovic shot for shot through the first eight games. But at 4-4 Djokovic held at love, and he closed out the match on his third match point after a long, tense final game. “It was incredibly close match, it was really anybody’s match,” Djokovic said. “In these kind of matches, a few points decide the winner. It was fortunately coming on my side, end of the fourth. That last game was nerve-wracking.”

Fritz reflected on the missed opportunities: “That’s one of the things that makes, like, the great players great. They win the big points, and that’s something that I kind of touched on before the match is, like, I’m going to need to go out and take those points from him,” and “He’s not just going to hand them over to me.” He added, “That’s exactly what happened. A lot of my weapons, aggressive shots were just not there, letting me down. So I felt like it was tough for me to go out and take those points.”

Djokovic was modest in victory: “I wear my heart on my sleeve,” he said. “I’m really proud of the fight I put in.”