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Taylor Fritz entered his 11th showdown with Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night desperate to extinguish the most depressing of streaks after losing all 10 of their previous encounters. This time, though, he knew what was required to finally sink the all-time great and reach the semifinals of the US Open for a second straight year.
'Against the top guys I learned that in those moments, because you're playing someone [who is at] 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 pull the trigger and go out and take it from them.'
Over the course of the first set Fritz was presented with as many as five opportunities to pull the trigger and break Djokovic's serve. On all five occasions he failed to do so, albeit largely due to the brilliance of the 24-time Grand Slam champion rather than his own shortcomings. Novak eventually went on to win the opener 6-3.
Another five break points initially came the American's way in the second, and again every one of them was squandered as Djokovic stormed 5-4 ahead to serve for the set. That was until, at long last, he got over the line at the 11th time of asking to draw level in a crucial moment.
Taylor Fritz suffered a sobering defeat against Novak Djokovic at the US Open on Tuesday
Yet just as his biggest glimmer of hope had surfaced, and nearly 24,000 fans began to whip up a deafening noise inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, Fritz sucked the life out of them once more when a disastrous service game gifted Djokovic an immediate break back. Like he had with all 10 of his unsuccessful break points, the home favorite pumped up the hopeful New York crowd like a party balloon before quickly popping it.
Again Fritz paid the price as Djokovic held his nerve to snatch a 7-5 win in the second. A collective groan quietly filled the arena in anticipation at what was to come. And while he managed to restore some pride and slight hope by coming out on top in the third (6-3), those demoralizing opening two sets left him with too vast of a mountain to climb here as the tennis icon closed out the match with a 6-4 win in the fourth.
And more worryingly, an 11th straight defeat against an ageing Djokovic, a Djokovic playing on his last legendary legs, proves that Fritz is still miles away from bridging the gap to the sport's elite.
By no means did he perform badly tonight at Flushing Meadows but that is what should come as the greatest concern. If this performance wasn't good enough to take more than one set from a veteran who is widely expected to come unstuck himself when he meets No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.
Fritz, who was ranked above seventh-seed Djokovic at No 4 because of the latter's disregard for anything but Grand Slams at this stage of his career, has ambitions to mix it with the likes of Alcaraz and world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
Though as his match-losing double fault in the final point of the match showed glaringly, he has some way to go to even pick out the sport's two current titans on the horizon, let alone trump them to capture a Grand Slam of his own.
