US Open 2025: Force of habit

Djokovic lives to fight another day

Leave it Djokovic to fight for his life for three and a half hours to overcome 2024 finalist Taylor Fritz then remember to do a special dance on the court for his daughter Tara to wake up to the next morning, in celebration of her eighth birthday.

Chasing an all-time record 25th Grand Slam this fortnight, Djokovic saved 11/13 break points against the fourth-seeded Fritz to book himself a spot in the semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 result during Tuesday’s night session on Ashe.

“I didn’t feel like I was dominating today from the back of the court. In many of my service games I was just trying to stay alive, fight for every ball,” said the Serbian No.7 seed during his on-court interview.

“He was aggressive, staying close to the line. Not easy to play him, he’s been playing some really good tennis this week.

“But look, in the end of the day, a win matters. I’m really proud of the fight that I put in. I wear my heart on my sleeve always for this sport, so I’m still enjoying it.”

In a dramatic match that saw Djokovic save the first nine break points he faced en route to a two-sets-to-love lead, tensions rose in the third frame when the home crowd rallied behind Fritz and disrupted Djokovic between serves.

He urged the umpire Damien Dumusois to control the situation but the 23,000-strong night-session capacity crowd made things increasingly difficult for the Serb.

Experience ultimately prevailed as Djokovic improved to a perfect 11-0 against Fritz.

At 38 years old, Djokovic has become the oldest man in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams in the same season – a feat he has achieved in seven separate seasons.

He has equalled Jimmy Connors’ Open Era record of 14 US Open semi-finals reached, is into the 53rd major semi-final of his career, and is bidding for a fifth US Open crown.

Djokovic will now attempt to reach his first major final of the year, having lost all three he has contested so far this campaign.

Alcaraz in a hurry

As Djokovic continues to rewrite the history books as the oldest to achieve this or that, Alcaraz is authoring his own script as the youngest to be doing what he’s doing.  

The Spaniard eased past Czech 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in under two hours to reach his third US Open semi-final in four years.

In doing so, the 22-year-old has become the youngest man to make the semi-finals on all three surfaces in multiple seasons (2023 and 2025) at the Grand Slams.

The world No.2 stormed into the ninth major semi-final of his career. Only Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal and Boris Becker (10 each) have reached more men’s semi-finals at the Slams in the Open Era before turning 23.

Chasing a sixth major trophy, Alcaraz faced zero break points against Lehecka, and fired 28 winners against just 17 unforced errors to move into the final four without dropping a set through five matches.

“I think today I just played almost a perfect match,” said the reigning Roland-Garros champion.

“So playing a quarter-final of a Grand Slam, I'm feeling that way. It seems like, okay, just two more steps to do, and let's see what happens. But yeah, I just feeling great and hungry to make it.”

Alcaraz, who has a chance of reclaiming the world No.1 ranking at the end of the US Open, is 3-5 head-to-head against Djokovic and has lost his last two matches against the Serb in the 2025 Australian Open quarterfinals and the Paris 2024 Olympic final.

“We all know Novak's game. It doesn't matter that he has been out of the tour since Wimbledon. He is playing great matches here. I know he's hungry. I know his ambition for more, so let's see,” said Alcaraz.

“I know I played a lot of times against him. I really want my revenge. That's obvious.”

Sabalenka, Pegula set popcorn rematch

Defending champion Sabalenka was given the night off on Tuesday as her opponent Marketa Vondrousova was forced to withdraw ahead of their quarter-final due to a knee injury.

The world No.1 has now made the semi-finals in 11 of her last 12 Grand Slams, including five consecutive ones at the US Open.

“Sorry for Marketa after all she’s been through,” wrote Sabalenka in a post on social media. “She has been playing amazing tennis and I know how badly this must hurt for her. Take care of yourself and I hope you can recover quickly.”

Only Serena Williams and Sabalenka have managed to reach five straight semi-finals at the same Grand Slam event this century.

Meanwhile, Pegula became just the third American woman – behind Williams and Chris Evert – to make back-to-back US Open semis after turning 30, thanks to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Barbora Krejcikova.

The fourth-seeded Pegula takes a 2-7 head-to-head record into her clash with Sabalenka.

“I think it would be cool to be able to get revenge, obviously,” said Pegula, who lost in two close sets to Sabalenka in last year’s championship match.

Pegula did not have the best build-up to the US Open, winning just two of her six matches after she picked up a third title of the season in Bad Homburg.

She has chosen to peak at the right time though, making it to another semi-final at her home Slam, without dropping a set.

“I just, I guess, surprised myself. I think, at the end of the day, I always come back to the fact that I'm pretty confident with who I am, and I think I'll always back myself and figure things out in the end instead of kind of spiralling and letting it go too far,” said Pegula.

“I think I always catch myself just in time.

“That's what I've been able to do for the last four or five years, being a top player. I feel like I can always come back to the fact that I can figure it out in the end, and that always kind of hits me in the toughest moments of the year.”