Novak Djokovic has admitted he is unsure of how physically ready he will be for his US Open semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz but is determined to do all he can to give himself the best chance against the Spaniard when they face each other on Friday.
Djokovic reached the last four late on Tuesday night with a tremendous 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win against the fourth seed Taylor Fritz. Although Djokovic found himself under constant pressure in his service games and at times was outplayed by his American opponent, he showed his peerless mental toughness by saving his best level for the most important moments as he eked out a victory in four sets.
The win set up another meeting with Alcaraz, the second seed and French Open champion, who eased into the semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Jiri Lehecka.
“It’s not going to get easier. I tell you that,” said Djokovic, smiling. “Look, 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. I just would really love that. Would love to be fit enough to play and to play potentially five sets with Carlos. I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I’d 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 I’m going to do my very best with my team to be fit. There’s going to be a lot of running involved, that’s for sure. It’s not going to be short points.”
At the age of 38 , Djokovic’s body has been a significant barrier to further success during an incredibly impressive season in which he has become the oldest man in the open era to reach the semi-finals of all four grand slam tournaments in a calendar year.
The Serb has struggled physically towards the end of each of his runs this year. At the Australian Open he was forced to retire from his semi-final match against Alexander Zverev because of injury and then he was clearly struggling throughout his straight-sets loss at Wimbledon to Jannik Sinner.
On this occasion, Djokovic will at least have two days to recover before the semi-final. On Wednesday, while Alcaraz worked through a light, leisurely practice at around midday with his brother, Alvaro, as his hitting partner, Djokovic opted against taking the long trip to Flushing as he prioritised recovery over the benefits of another day on site.
“The good thing about the schedule is I have two days without a match, so that helps a lot,” he said. “I don’t feel very fresh at the moment, but hopefully in two days it will be different.”
With his win over Fritz, Djokovic has now registered three top five wins at the grand slam tournaments this year alone, also beating the No 3 Zverev at Roland Garros, and Alcaraz himself at the Australian Open, when the Spaniard was also ranked No 3, an immense achievement that underlines his status as the third best player in the world. Alcaraz, however, is now playing some of the best tennis of his career and he will be attempting to reach his third consecutive grand slam final and seventh grand slam final overall.
After his defeat, Fritz noted that Djokovic will probably relish the challenge of facing Alcaraz and then potentially Sinner as he tries to win his record-extending 25th grand slam singles title.
“I think it just depends how much this one took out of him,” Fritz said. “I really can’t speak for him. I’m not sure. But, I mean, I was really excited at the fact. I was looking at the draw like: ‘Oh, I will have the opportunity to do the coolest thing ever, play Novak, potentially try to go through Novak, Carlos and Sinner.’ I liked the challenge. I’m sure he – being the competitor he is – is very excited for that challenge.”
