Novak Djokovic is knocking on the door of his fourth US Open title. The No. 2 ranked Djokovic took down American Ben Shelton within the males’s semifinal on Friday afternoon, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
Shelton, a 20-year-old who turned the youngest American to succeed in the semifinals on the US Open since Michael Chang in 1992, was not as clear because the 36-year-old Djokovic. The Serbian star was fired up after taking the primary set, and he adopted that up with a superb displaying within the second set.
Regardless of Djokovic taking the match in straight units, Shelton did hit some spectacular photographs and put up a battle late. Shelton confirmed quite a lot of perseverance within the third and last set, going toe-to-toe with Djokovic and forcing a tiebreak. After the primary two units, it appeared like Djokovic may waltz into the ultimate, however Shelton battled again from a break level to make issues somewhat extra fascinating.
Simply as he did all through the remainder of the match, Shelton managed to hold round and provides Djokovic some stiff competitors. Djokovic took a 5-1 lead within the tie break earlier than Shelton reduce that result in 5-4. Finally, Djokovic was in a position to outlast Shelton, win the tiebreak 7-4, and advance to the US Open last.
In his post-match interview on the court docket, Djokovic spoke about battling an American opponent on his residence turf. Djokovic tipped his cap to the gang and mentioned these sorts of atmosphere are what maintain him going.
“Look, these are the sorts of matches and events that I nonetheless thrive one and get me going,” Djokovic mentioned.
Even with the loss, this was the very best Grand Slam results of Shelton’s younger profession, and it was a major enchancment over his 2022 US Open efficiency, the place he was eradicated within the first spherical of the event.
Djokovic will transfer on to the US Open last for the tenth time in his profession and the primary since 2021, when he misplaced to Daniil Medvedev. Djokovic’s final championship win at Flushing Meadows got here in 2018 with a victory over Juan Martin del Potro.
Djokovic will now await the winner of No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev. That match is about to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.
