Novak Djokovic, in search of a historic Grand Slam calendar, dismissed in four sets (5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3) Matteo Berrettini (8e) to advance to the semi-finals of the US Open, where he will face one of his main rivals, Alexander Zverev.
As in 1er turn, at 3e and in the round of 16, the world number one lost a set, the first. But unlike those previous matches, where he ended up gaining the upper hand and giving the impression of mostly wrestling with himself, this time he produced his best tennis in the next three innings.
The first act of this meeting, of a rather unprecedented violence in the exchanges, first saw the Italian pounding “Nole” who couldn’t do much in return and was broken at 6-5. Berrettini finished on his fourth set point after 77 minutes.
Ovation
Not disconcerted, the Serbian broke for the first time in the second set, to lead 3-1, his returns taking better and better measure of the service of his opponent. And he equalized with one set everywhere, winning Berrettini’s bet again. The scenario was thus repeated, inevitably, in the third and fourth rounds.
Despite a noisy Italian colony, the Serbian was given a unanimous standing ovation from Arthur Ashe, impressed by his rise to power. Knowing that a great match is looming on Friday against Zverev.