American Taylor Fritz is preparing himself for a monster US Open quarter-final clash with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
In 10 previous attempts, Fritz has yet to defeat Djokovic.
When asked whether Djokovic has lost any of his aura, Fritz was adamant that he had not.
“No, I wouldn’t say that the aura of Novak being Novak has worn off at all. No matter what, he’s around, you’re going to acknowledge the fact that it’s Novak and he holds pretty much all the records in tennis.
“That’s never going to change. But I think that, yeah, what’s different is there’s been some guys now that are coming up and able to beat him.
“I still think he’s, when he shows up to the slams obviously, he is playing as good of tennis as I guess I haven’t really played him enough, but, you know, I think the level is still as much there as it was before.
“You know, I don’t look at it like, I don’t know. I don’t look at it like he’s more vulnerable than before.
“I look at it as the same, but I also look it that I’ve improved a lot as a player.”
‘Take opportunities’
Taylor Fritz outlined how he tries to concentrate on his own game rather than trying to worry about what Djokovic is going to do. He also added that against the top players you must take your opportunities when they arise.
“I think I’ve played him a lot, you know, so the last couple of times, I am just thinking about me.
“I’m just playing. I think, like I said before, the biggest thing I need to think about that’s different from maybe other matches I play is just in those tight moments, you know, I need to play more to win and not to lose, if that statement makes sense.
“I think when I’m playing lower-ranked players a lot of times, if I’m not feeling it, not feeling my best, you know, I can trust that if I’m solid and I just don’t make mistakes and I compete hard, a lot of times they’ll kind of give it to me or they’ll make mistakes.
“But against the top guys, and I learned this too, something I touched on after the Wimbledon loss to Carlos, is in those moments, because you’re playing someone who they’re where they’re at for a reason, they’re not just going to hand it over to you, they’re not just going to give you a random mistake on a big point.
“You have to maybe pull the trigger and go out and take it from them.
UPDATE: Taylor Fritz went on to lose for an 11th time against Novak Djokovic, going down 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Dave Marshall was reporting exclusively from the US Open in Flushing Meadows for The South African.
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