Fritz has still never beaten Djokovic in nine attempts. But he put up a strong fight on Tuesday, saving the first 15 break points he faced. This is believed to be a unique feat against Djokovic, the world’s most skilful returner.
Three of these break points came in an opening game that lasted a marathon 16 minutes and 25 seconds, featuring nine deuces. That set the tone for an 84-minute opening set, which Djokovic won on a tie-break, only to dip in intensity thereafter.
On a humid evening, both men looked to be moving in slow motion for a while, but their shots remained laser-like in their accuracy. Then, after Fritz levelled at one set all after almost two-and-a-half hours of combat, Djokovic stepped up his level in familiar style. His statistics in the third set – 14 clean winners and just a single unforced error – were otherworldly.
His quality barely dipped in the fourth, reinforcing his status as the runaway favourite to lift an 11th Australian Open on Sunday night. After the match, Fritz was asked whether he had seen any decline in Djokovic’s abilities in the five years since he first encountered him. Fritz replied “He’s just as good as ever.”
Fritz also admitted that he hadn’t been able to keep up with Djokovic’s fitness levels in sets three and four, explaining that his off-season training block had been disrupted by injuries. “I played a really high level for the first two sets,” he said, “and they were physical, tough sets. It was like two-and-a-half hours [for] the two sets. I need to get to the point where I can do that for five hours.”
The length of the match provided problems for the schedulers, who asked the next players due on court – Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova – if they would consider a downgrade to Melbourne Park’s second-string venue, Margaret Court Arena. The women conferred and said that they would move if Fritz extended the match to five sets, but Djokovic’s relatively smooth finish meant that this sacrifice was not required.
