Melbourne, (UNI) Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals of the Australian Open after defeating American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals here on Tuesday.
This 33rd consecutive triumph at the first Grand Slam of the year equaled the record of legendary women’s player Monic Seles.
“I didn’t know that I was sharing this record with her. That makes this day even more special for me. I had her in my mind when I was growing up, almost every day. I heard about her as a child from Jelena Gencic.
“When I had the opportunity to meet her, I was very nervous. She speaks the language because she was born in Serbia. She had a great career, she played especially well in Australia. I have only good words to say about Monika,” he told reporters in a post-match press conference.
The match lasted three hours and 45 minutes. The Serb will play against Italy’s Yannick Siner.
Last year, in the final of the Australian Open, Djokovic defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6:3, 7:6 (7:4), 7:6 (7:5).
In Melbourne, Djokovic will try to reach his 11th Australian Open title and 25th Grand Slam trophy in his career.
Meanwhile, Sinner reached the semifinals of the Australian Open after defeating the fifth player in the world, Andrei Rublev of Russia, after three sets, 6:4, 7:6, 6:3.
The No.4 in the world won after two hours and 39 minutes, in a match that ended at 1.22 am local time.
In the fifth game of the first set, Sinner took away Rublev’s serve, saved the advantage of the break and took the lead in the match.
There was no break in the second set and a tie-break was played. Rublev took the lead with 5:1, but after that, Siner won six consecutive points and won the tiebreak with 7:5.
Sinner broke in the sixth game of the third set, kept that advantage until the end and for the first time in his career reached the semifinals at the Australian Open.
It is the second Grand Slam semifinal for Sinner in his career.
