Lead: SAEDNEWS: Taylor Fritz produced one of the gutsiest performances of his career, only to be foiled by late-game poise from Novak Djokovic, and a handful of missed break points that kept the Californian from a historic first win.
According to Saed News, Taylor Fritz pushed Novak Djokovic to the limit at the U.S. Open but ultimately walked away with another narrow defeat, the scoreboard reading 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in favor of the 24-time major champion.
Fritz spent the early stages of the match creating chances — a flurry of break opportunities in the first two sets that promised a possible upset. He went 2-for-13 on break points, however, and every missed chance stacked the margin Djokovic needed in the tight moments that followed. The Serb, who will now meet Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals, took nearly all of the match’s most important points despite losing only four more points overall (130–126).
“It actually almost sounds better than it was,” Fritz said of his break-point record — describing how many 15–30 or 30–all moments slipped away through poor decision-making or unforced errors. He acknowledged that several chances evaporated not for lack of effort but because his aggressive weapons were not firing as cleanly as he wanted.
The match swung early when Djokovic broke to go up 3–0 in the first set. Fritz rallied the crowd with sustained pressure — five break points in the final game of the opening set that Djokovic managed to fend off — but the momentum had already tilted. The American found rhythm in the third set, serving strongly and blasting winners to claim the set and briefly revive his bid for a comeback.
The fourth set turned into a tense duel of wills. Neither man faced a break point until the 10th game, when Fritz briefly stood tall, saving match points and sending the packed stadium into a roar. Djokovic, showing the veteran composure that has defined his career, earned a third match point and closed it out when Fritz double-faulted, ending the contest after more than three hours.
Statistically the match reflected Fritz’s all-out approach: he produced 46 winners but also 55 unforced errors, compared with Djokovic’s 33 winners and 40 errors. Those extra errors, combined with the missed break chances early on, proved the decisive combination.
For Fritz — the Torrey Pines High School alum who has climbed into the top levels of the game in recent seasons — the loss was bitter for its near-misses as much as its result. He has now fallen short in his attempts to topple Djokovic, but the match also underlined how close he is to turning those chances into wins: a few tighter decisions, cleaner execution on the big break points, and the narrative could easily tilt the other way.
Djokovic marched on to his 53rd Grand Slam semifinal, while Fritz leaves with the knowledge that he matched the sport’s greatest on almost every front — except, crucially, on the points that mattered most.
