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The US Open waited 52 years for a man to have a chance to win the Grand Slam, so what are a few extra hours?
Novak Djokovic, who has been undefeated in his top five games this year in pursuit of the Grand Slam, after a long form at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night, sixth-seeded Matteo Berrettini, 5 -7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 .
Djokovic’s first set against Berrettini was the third in which he lost the opening frame, and he also lost the toughest set of the tournament. The first game lasted 14 points; 20 points were required in the sixth game. Although Djokovic was defeated by Berrettini’s striker pass winner in the 11th game and lost the set soon after, it was Berrettini who had to leave the field in just one hour and 17 minutes of the game to change into his sweat-soaked clothes. .
Djokovic’s diversions in this tournament led to exploration, not despair.
The first set against Berrettini was the fourth set Djokovic has lost in this tournament. As he had done every time before, Djokovic took the information he had gathered and reprogrammed his game with increasing precision. After making 17 mandatory mistakes in the first set, he only hit three in the second set and three in the third. Djokovic made five mandatory mistakes in the fourth set.
With will and persistence, he turned the match in his favor and even won some of the reluctant crowd. Djokovic, holding 5-2 in the third round after Berrettini recovered the breaking point and extinguished all hope for a comeback, begged the crowd to recognize his resilience as he approached the Grand Slam, making a record 21 career major singles titles.
After an early break in the fourth set, Djokovic shifted to a lower gear to slow down towards the finish, earning just two points on the turn for energy savings. When he finished the victory three hours and 27 minutes later, Djokovic quickly walked into the net, exerting little energy for an elaborate celebration. It took him a few seconds to find the wristwatch he was using for the on-site interview to fulfill his sponsor obligations.
“I was actually locked in from the start of the second set,” Djokovic said in an interview on the field. “I took my tennis to a different level. Those were definitely the best three sets I’ve played in the tournament so far.”
Djokovic won the first 26 of the 28 games he needed to complete the Grand Slam, but his 27th test may be one of his toughest. On Friday night, Djokovic will face fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, whose 16-game winning streak also included Djokovic in the semi-finals of last month’s Tokyo Olympics.
Zverev needed just two hours and six minutes to wrap up his own quarterfinal victory hours earlier and avoided the delay by recording a set point in his 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4 tiebreak. Lloyd Harris.
Where Djokovic was effective, Zverev was efficient. Zverev needs just nine hours and 23 minutes to complete his five wins here; Djokovic needs 13 hours 52 minutes.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Zverev showed his confidence, but accepted the task before him.
“You’re getting ready to play the best game you can against him,” Zverev said of facing Djokovic. “You have to be perfect or you can’t win.
“You can’t be perfect most of the time,” Zverev added. “That’s why most of the time people lose to it.”
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