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Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his quarter final match against Taylor Fritz of the US, US Open, Flushing Meadows, New York, United States. September 2, 2025
Novak Djokovic reasserted his dominance over American Taylor Fritz with a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory on Tuesday to set up a US Open semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz, celebrating the win with a dance dedicated to his daughter on her birthday.
The 38-year-old arrived at Arthur Ashe Stadium having beaten Fritz in all 10 of their previous meetings but had to fight hard to move past last year’s runner-up and stay on track for a record 25th major title.
“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,” Djokovic said.
“For most of the second and third sets, he was the better player. In these kinds of matches, a few points decide the winner. It was fortunately coming on my side, particularly at the end of the fourth set.”
Djokovic, who is looking for his fifth title at Flushing Meadows, celebrated the win with a dance for his daughter Tara.
“The dance in the end, she’s going to rate me tomorrow on how good the dance was,” Djokovic said.
“She told me how to dance. It’s K-Pop Demon Hunters, Soda Pop is the name of the song. Obviously, it’s a big thing globally for teenagers and for kids, but I didn’t know about it before.
“My daughter told me a few months ago about it. So we’re at home doing choreography and this is one of them. Hopefully I’ll make her smile when she wakes up tomorrow morning.”
