NOVAK Djokovic has once again fought past a brave opponent to advance through in the US Open, defeating Italian sixth seed Matteo Berrettini in four sets. The Italian struggled early, but surprisingly took a crucial break off his opponent to win the opening set, before Djokovic stepped up as was expected and cruised to victory, 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-3 in three hours and 26 minutes.

The world number one hit 12 aces to Berrettini’s 17 and had two more double faults (4-2), but his consistency across the court was too great for the Italian, who relied upon his powerful forehand to get the job done. As the match wore on, Djokovic was able to control the points more onto Berrettini’s backhand, and with a combination of poorer slices and slower second serves, the Italian felt the full brunt of Djokovic at full steam. The Serbian hit two more winners (44-42) but crucially 15 less unforced errors (28-43), hardly putting a foot wrong throughout the match.

“It was a great match. A lot of energy on the court, off the court as well,” Djokovic said post-match. “Matteo is a terrific player, an established Top 10 player. Every time we face each other, it’s always a close battle. It wasn’t any different tonight. When I lost the first set, I managed to forget about it, kind of be in the moment. I was dialed in, locked in from the beginning of the second set. I put my tennis to a different level. It’s been the best three sets I’ve played in the tournament so far, for sure.”

Djokovic is just two wins away from completing a calendar-year Grand Slam, something that has not occurred since Rod Laver achieved that feat way back in 1969. First, the Serbian heads into his clash with German fourth seed Alexander Zverev having most recently lost to the big server at the Tokyo Olympics, falling in the semi-finals there and eventually missing out on a medal altogether. However, the world number one does hold a 6-3 record over the German.

“Against him, you prepare to play the best match that you can,” Djokovic said. “You have to be perfect, otherwise you will not win. “Most of the time, you can’t be perfect. “That’s why most of the time people lose to him. “Against him, you have to win the match yourself. “You have to be the one that is dominating the points. “You have to do it with very little unforced errors.”

Zverev on the other hand said he was confident he could fulfil the opportunity and knock off Djokovic again. Twelve months ago, Zverev lead two sets to love against Dominic Thiem in the US Open final, before blowing the lead and losing in five sets. Now he is better prepared than ever, with the win over Djokovic a critical boost of confidence.

“It’s the biggest tournament in the world, Tokyo. It’s the Olympics,” Zverev said. “Winning there against the world number one, especially since I was down a set and a break, being kind of out of the match, then coming back, it was different than the other matches. “The emotions were different. “This year, it seems like nobody can beat him in a big match, nobody can beat him at the Grand Slams. “I feel like I was the first player to beat him in a very big match. “That does give you something.”

Meanwhile, Zverev booked his place in the semi-finals with a straight sets win over fellow big-server Lloyd Harris. The unseeded South African was the lowest remaining player in the tournament, and whilst he put up some fierce opposition to the German, was unable to break his serve consistent enough to win, losing 7-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and six minutes. Harris produced 13 aces for only one double-fault and won 75 per cent of his first service points, but Zverev went better with 21 aces and 82 per cent, as well as 43 winners to 34.

“He was serving incredible, in the first set especially. I mean, I didn’t have a lot of chances on his serve and somehow managed to win that first set, loosened me up a little bit and started playing a lot better,” Zverev said post-match. “In the third set, he started swinging. “He started playing incredible tennis. Yeah, I’m happy to be through in three.”

The semi-finalists will have a day off tomorrow before the top four seeds face off in the second game on Friday (Saturday morning AEST), after second seed Daniil Medvedev and 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime do battle in the early match.

US OPEN MEN’S QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated [6] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-3
[4] Alexander Zverev (GER) defeated Lloyd Harris (RSA) 7-6 6-3 6-4

Picture credit: Jed Jacobsohn/USTA