Serbian tennis superstar Novak Djokovic reached the US Open semi-finals after continuing his flawless record in the last eight with victory over Roger Federer’s conqueror John Millman.
Despite appearing to struggle at points during the match which contained some very long rallies, including a 27-stroke point, Djokovic emerged victorious after three hours on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court – 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
The victory was not as easy for the sixth seed as the scoreline suggested, Australian Millman providing stoic resistance before Djokovic came through to take his first match point after two hours 49 minutes, just before midnight local time.
The unforced error count rose steadily, it finally read 53 for Djokovic compared to 46 for Millman and an inability to take his chances punctuated a third major quarter-final of 2018.
The scoreline didn’t illustrate the hard-fought nature of the match and Millman looked to be gaining the upperhand early in the second as the humid New York conditions took their toll.
Djokovic missed last year’s tournament with an elbow injury but has now reached at least the semi-finals in every appearance at Flushing Meadows since 2007.
“I was very tested Almost three hours. It is midnight now. Credit to John for putting up a great battle. He is truly a great fighter,” said Djokovic, who has now won 11 straight US Open quarterfinals.
“He has had an amazing tournament, his first quarterfinal, he won against Roger … to come out and fight for three hours after a win like that, he deserves a round of applause, definitely”, the star added.
> Shatabdi Sarker Poushi
