Novak Djokovic was left furious at a booing US Open crowd during his match against Taylor Fritz – with the former’s victory setting up a blockbuster semi-final clash against Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
Djokovic, seeded seventh in the men’s singles at Flushing Meadows, conjured up a 6-3 7-5 3-6 6-4 win over Fritz in the last eight on Wednesday.
The vast majority of tennis fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium were firmly supporting American fourth-seed Fritz during the quarter-final showdown.
Djokovic faced stadium-wide boos during the match with the crowd also celebrating a number of the 38-year-old’s mistakes in the third set.
Djokovic demands umpire to take action
The 24-time Grand Slam champion turned into somewhat of a pantomime villain when he made a demand for umpire Damien Dumusois to take action against the crowd in New York.
At deuce in the fourth game of the third set, Djokovic’s double fault was greeted by huge cheers from fans as the tennis legend gave a disapproving look around the stands before complaining to the umpire.
‘What are you going to do?’ Djokovic, fuming with the crowd’s behaviour, asked Dumusois. ‘What are you going to do?
‘What do you say? Thank you, please. Thank you, please. Just explain a little bit more.’
The umpire told Djokovic he would quieten the crowd ‘when both players were ready’ to continue the match.
‘It’s not going to help you, Novak,’ Dumusois added, as the crowd fiercely booed before play eventually continued.
Fritz broke Djokovic’s serve just moments later but the Serbian eventually regained control of the match to secure the win and book his spot in the semi-finals to continue his hunt for a historic 25th major singles trophy.
Henman makes Djokovic vs Alcaraz prediction
Djokovic will now face Spanish world No.2 Alcaraz, with the veteran currently leading the head-to-head 5-3 across their eight meetings.
But Friday’s battle will be no easy task for Djokovic – given Alcaraz is one of the main favourites to clinch the trophy along with Jannik Sinner.
Former British No.1 Tim Henman believes five-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz, 22, has the ‘edge’ for his US Open showdown against Djokovic.
‘I give Alcaraz the edge in that one,’ Henman told Sky Sports. ‘The way he’s been playing is phenomenal. His physicality, his movement is incredible.
‘What’s he got, 16 years on Djokovic? I think that’s to his advantage. Djokovic has the experience, you wouldn’t put it past him, but Alcaraz for me starts as the clear favourite.’
