IMAGES from Day 10 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Djokovic extinguishes Fritz fire to make semis
IMAGE: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his quarter-final match against USA’s Taylor Fritz. Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters
Novak Djokovic continued his dominance over Taylor Fritz but not before a big test as he sealed a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over the 12th-seeded American on a steamy Tuesday at the Australian Open to move into a record-extending 48th Grand Slam semi-final.
The 36-year-old defending champion had beaten Fritz in all eight of their previous meetings, including a five-sets win at Melbourne Park in 2021 and a crushing victory at the US Open last year.
IMAGE: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts. Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters
But Djokovic has taken his time to get going at this year’s tournament as he seeks an 11th title and 25th major to surpass Margaret Court’s haul, and the top-seeded Serb was unable to break in a marathon first game that had nine deuces.
Fritz saved eight break points and went toe to toe with his opponent in energy sapping conditions before setting up two set points but Djokovic saved them both to force a tiebreak, where he took his level up a few notches.
The Serb cupped his ear as the crowd roared when he fired a superb cross-court winner to earn five set points and bagged the early lead in the contest after 84 minutes.
IMAGE: Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic embrace after the match. Photograph: Australian Open/X
Fritz broke early in the next set and bailed himself out of trouble several times with stinging backhand winners as Djokovic looked to respond, but the 26-year-old American held firm and drew level at one set all with a comfortable hold.
Djokovic cooled off by placing ice packs on his head in the third set but he was only comfortable after finally breaking his opponent on his 16th attempt en route to a 2-0 lead, which gave him the platform to push on and win the set.
Fritz appeared to struggle with his movement at times in the fourth set and Djokovic moved in for the kill to break in the sixth game before fending off a comeback attempt from Fritz to prevail.
IMAGE: USA’s Coco Gauff in action during her quarter-final match against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Reuters
US Open champion Coco Gauff came through a huge test at the hands of Ukrainian world number 37 Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time on Tuesday.
The fourth-seeded American will rarely play as badly and still progress but prevailed after more than three hours on a blistering hot Rod Laver Arena to fulfil her coach Brad Gilbert’s famous maxim by “Winning Ugly”.
“I’m really proud of the fight I showed today, Marta’s a tough opponent, every time we play it’s a tough match,” she said.
“Yeah, I really fought and left it all out on the court today.”
Gauff, playing her final Grand Slam as a teenager, had swept into the last eight on a nine-match winning streak as she looked to back up her first major success in New York last year.
Kostyuk got right in the American’s face from the off, however, and stormed to a 5-1 lead, serving twice for the opening set as well holding a set point on Gauff’s serve.
The 19-year-old American knew she was up against it and, problem-solving on her feet, battled her way back into the contest by rattling off five successive games to serve for the set herself.
“I was just trying to get one more game in the first set and make it more competitive, then one game turned into another and I was able to win that set,” Gauff added.
IMAGE: Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk reacts during her quarter-final match against Coco Gauff. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Reuters
Kostyuk had been looking increasingly frequently at her coach as her confidence waned but she earned three break points off Gauff’s forehand and forced the tiebreak when the American double-faulted.
The Ukrainian was revived by treatment on blisters on her feet before the tiebreak but blew her second set point, allowing Gauff to come racing into the net to go a set up.
The players traded breaks throughout a second set featuring some lengthy rallies but it was Gauff who was able to edge ahead and serve for the match at 5-3.
Again, however, a combination of Gauff’s frail second serve and Kostyuk’s ability to conjure up winners – she fired 39 across the contest — allowed the Ukrainian to get back on serve and then level up the contest at one-set all.
Gauff found the fix as Kostyuk tired in the third set by ramping up the pace of her first serve and backhand but was broken when serving for the match for the second time.
She finally got over the line at the third time of asking to move into a semi-final against either Aryna Sabalenka – a rematch of last year’s Flushing Meadows final – or Czech ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova.
