Novak Djokovic cruises past Borna Gojo to set up Taylor Fritz showdown in US Open quarter-finals in New York

Published 04/09/2023 at 06:00 GMT

Novak Djokovic is into his 57th Grand Slam quarter-final after a straight-sets victory over qualifier Borna Gojo. Gojo's aggressive brand of tennis proved detrimental against Djokovic as he made 40 unforced errors in total on Arthur Ashe. Djokovic will play Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. Should Djokovic win that, he will play another American - Frances Tiafoe or Ben Shelton - in the semis.

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Novak Djokovic is through to his 13th US Open quarter-final after a comfortable 6-2 7-5 6-4 win over Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo.

Djokovic had to come back from two sets down for the eighth time in his career to defeat Serbian Laslo Djere in a Friday night thriller, but he had far less issues against big-serving Gojo who was playing in his first fourth round match of a Grand Slam in his career.

Djokovic will play USA's Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals as the Serb continues his bid to secure a fourth US Open title and a record-extending 24th Grand Slam title.

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"I knew that Borna had a big game, even though we hadn't faced each other at the tour level," Djokovic said after beating Gojo.

"I was watching him play qualifying and also the last couple of rounds of the main draw and I saw that he has big weapons with his serve and forehand and that he moves pretty well for a big guy.

"One of the keys to the match was to neutralise his serve, try to reduce the number of aces and winners from that shot."

Djokovic has a 7-0 head-to-head record against the top-ranked American, but believes the No. 9 seed will prove a tough test in front of a home crowd.

"Taylor has been an established top 10 player for the past couple of years and he's been playing some terrific tennis, particularly on home soil in hard-court tournaments here in the States," he said.

"He's improved so much over the years. Obviously the matches will only get tougher from here onwards, and I'm ready for the challenge."

Gojo's approach to try and overcome the world No. 2 was all-out attack and the 25-year-old made 40 winners in total in the match. However, he made 15 unforced errors in the first set and a total of 40 across the three.

Gojo secured an early break in the second set to move into a 2-0 lead, but that was as good as it got for the Croat.

Djokovic will play two Americans in his next two matches as No. 10 seed Frances Tiafoe will play compatriot Ben Shelton in the last eight to guarantee a player from the USA in the semi-finals.

Alongside Fritz, it means three players from the USA are in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2005 when Andre Agassi, James Blake and Robby Ginepri achieved the feat.

Djokovic believes it is "important" for the tournament that there is greater American involvement at the latter stages of the US Open.

"I assume there's going to be more support for Taylor Fritz in our next match," he said in his post-match news conference. "Obviously eventually if I win, to play Shelton or Tiafoe in the semis.

"It's expected. We're in America playing against home players. It's something that I would be surprised if it's otherwise, to be honest. So I know what I'm expecting, and I'm going to get ready for that mentally.

"Again, matches are only going to get tougher from now on. It's quarterfinals of a slam. I think it's important for a very big and important country in the tennis world, like America is, to have three tennis players from America in the quarter-finals of a slam. It's important for this tournament. It's one of the four majors, one of the four most important events in the history of our sport.

"America has had some all-time greats: Pete Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Roddick, Connors, incredible players over the years. Of course, when you are used to champions and No. 1s in the world, Grand Slam winners, anything except that is not a success, right?"

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