Novak Djokovic faces Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals as the last American man in the singles draw aims to beat the 24-time grand slam champion for the first time.
Fritz, the fourth seed, reached the US Open final last year but has lost all 10 meetings against Djokovic, including a straight-sets quarter-final defeat to the Serbian when he won his last title in 2023.
Djokovic is aiming to win a record 25th grand slam title and played his best tennis of the tournament in dismissing Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets in the fourth round.
Fritz lost to Jannik Sinner in last year’s US Open final and is the only man to reach the quarter-final stage after Ben Shelton retired and Francis Tiafoe and Tommy Paul were knocked out.
Novak Djokovic v Taylor Fritz start time
Djokovic v Fritz is the last match of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and will follow the women’s singles quarter-final between defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova.
The night session gets underway at 7pm local time (midnight UK), so Djokovic v Fritz will take place at around 2am in the morning.
US Open order of play – Tuesday 2 September
(all times BST)
Arthur Ashe Stadium
from 4.30pm
Jessica Pegula [4] vs Barbora Krejcikova
Jiří Lehecka [20] vs Carlos Alcaraz [2]
from midnight
Aryna Sabalenka [1] vs Marketa Vondrousova
Novak Djokovic [7] vs Taylor Fritz [4]
Novak Djokovic v Taylor Fritz head-to-head
Djokovic has won all 10 matches against Fritz, including all three of their previous meetings at the grand slams. Their last match was in Shanghai last year, with Djokovic winning the semi-final 6-4 7-6(6).
What has Novak Djokovic said about Taylor Fritz?
“I think over the years he has improved with his movement a lot. Backhand is also very solid, very flat. For a big guy, he moves really well. I think it’s quite underestimated how well he’s moving, and particularly last couple years, which was something that was probably missing in his game from before.
“That’s what got him to finals and several semi-finals of grand slam. He’s knocking on that door. So obviously final stages of the tournament, quarters, we played in quarters before here some years ago. It was a day match, I remember, but now it’s going to be night match. Obviously different conditions.”
What has Taylor Fritz said about Novak Djokovic?
“I think the first, almost like seven or eight times I played him, I probably just wasn’t a good-enough player to really have that much of a chance unless I have the best day ever and he has a bad day.
“I think only the last couple times we’ve played I think I’ve been this just better player that can, you know, I’d say compete and have chances.
“You know, last time we played in, I think was it Shanghai, I mean, I had looks, I had set points in the second set. Like, I really should have probably won the second, taken it to a third set.
