Novak Djokovic defeats Matteo Berrettini in four sets to reach semifinals of US Open

NEW YORK — Nobody knows higher than Matteo Berrettini that prevailing the first set against Novak Djokovic doesn’t suggest a lot.

But even armed together with his first-hand revel in in the Wimbledon final, while only a moderate letdown opened the door for a Djokovic onslaught, Berrettini couldn’t prevent history from repeating itself Wednesday night time inside the U.S. Open quarterfinals. He couldn’t prevent records, period.

Berrettini, the 8th-ranked player in the global, has been little more than a site visitors cone this yr for Djokovic on his manner to a potential calendar Grand Slam — worthy sufficient to be paid interest to, however easy enough to navigate round. For the 1/3 instantly primary, Djokovic faced a piece of hassle against the big-hitting Italian however ultimately solved him, this time triumphing 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

The win propels Djokovic into the semifinals, where he’s simply two wins far from matching a feat final achieved via Rod Laver in 1969 of prevailing all 4 Slams within the equal yr and additionally snatching the best-ever principal file of 21, that is presently shared together with his contemporaries Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Waiting for him inside the semifinals is Alexander Zverev, the 24-year antique German who came within a couple points of prevailing the U.S. Open a year in the past and defeated Djokovic this summer time within the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics.

“Against him you put together that you have to play the first-class suit that you can,” Zverev stated Wednesday after advancing to the semifinals with a instantly sets win over South Africa’s Lloyd Harris. “You need to be perfect, otherwise you may not win. Most of the time you can not be best. That's why most of the time human beings lose to him.”

Novak Djokovic needs two wins to complete the calendar Grand Slam after defeating Matteo Berrettini.

For 1 hour, 17 minutes, Berrettini become perfect enough along with his big serve-large forehand aggregate to present himself a hazard. After breaking at five-five with a scorching go-court passing shot, Berrettini drew four unforced mistakes from Djokovic in a tight service sport to wrap up the first set.

It become the 1/3 in shape in a row at this match and 9th time this year within the Grand Slams that Djokovic has commenced from at the back of, inclusive of whilst Berrettini gained the primary set of the Wimbledon very last in a tiebreaker. But all of these fits have observed a acquainted sample, with Djokovic without delay raising the extent of his sport and identifying how to break his opponent down.

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Novak Djokovic lunged, dropped his racket before he hit the court and missed on a return to Matteo Berrettini.

Prior to Wednesday’s fit, Djokovic called Berrettini the “hammer of tennis,” and acknowledged that if he served well it'd be a tough in shape. But Djokovic handiest needs the slightest of openings to begin locating weaknesses. When those a hundred thirty mile consistent with hour missiles stopped locating the carrier field with the identical frequency as they did inside the first set, it allowed Djokovic to visit paintings on Berrettini’s backhand, a shot he can handiest use in reality to neutralize rallies in hopes of finally putting in a forehand.

Without the ability to harm Djokovic in any respect from the backhand wing both together with his slice or his -hander, Berrettini was playing in quicksand. And as Djokovic got more cozy getting Berrettini’s large serves lower back in play — he ended up prevailing 40% of the points whilst he had to return a primary serve — the healthy devolved speedy right into a spotlight reel of passing pictures and flicked winners that at times made the Italian appearance stupid. By the give up, he appeared to be commanding the ball at will, if handiest to present him the possibility to flex his muscle tissue and exhort the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd into a reaction on call for.

It’s probably that Djokovic’s two hardest suits are still ahead in Zverev and potentially No. 2 Daniil Medvedev within the very last. To stop Djokovic in any huge fit, the conventional knowledge is that it’s vital to get the lead and play from ahead.

Though it’s probably higher than the alternative, winning a first set from Djokovic hasn’t verified to be especially elaborate for him. In this event, it approach he’s simply getting warmed up.

Follow Dan Wolken on Twitter @DanWolken.