World-renowned tennis player Novak Djokovic effortlessly defeated qualifier Borna Gojo with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory, advancing to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. The Serbian star, who holds a men's record of 23 Grand Slam titles, showcased a strong performance, in stark contrast to his five-set battle against Laslo Djere in the third round.
Displaying exceptional form, Djokovic committed just 12 unforced errors compared to Gojo's 40. The second-seeded player revealed his satisfaction with the straight-sets win, stating, "Just glad to get through in straight sets." Djokovic's recent victory assures him the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings next week, replacing Carlos Alcaraz.
During the match, Djokovic broke Gojo's serve five times out of the 15 service games, while himself getting broken only once. The tennis star's next challenge lies in facing No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz, a 25-year-old from California, in the quarterfinals. Intriguingly, Fritz is the only player left in the men's bracket who has not yet lost a set in the tournament.
Djokovic maintains an undefeated 7-0 head-to-head career record against Fritz. The upcoming match will mark Djokovic's 13th quarterfinal appearance in New York, compared to Fritz's debut in this round.
“I'm not going to talk about what he needs to do to have a chance against me. I'm sure he's going to try to figure that out with his coach,” Djokovic said.
“I'm going to get ready, obviously, for that match as any other match, doing my analytics, watching the last match we had against each other," he added.
In a notable development for American tennis, Fritz is one of three U.S. men, along with No. 10 Frances Tiafoe and unseeded Ben Shelton, to reach the quarterfinals. This marks the first time since 2005 that three American men have advanced this far in the U.S. Open— the last trio being Andre Agassi, James Blake, and Robby Ginepri.
The victor in the Djokovic vs. Fritz quarterfinal will proceed to face either Tiafoe or Shelton in the tournament semifinals.
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(With PTI inputs, powered by AI)
