Novak Djokovic has achieved various records throughout his career but he believes winning this year’s US Open could be the pinnacle of them all.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion moved into the quarter-finals in New York on Sunday with a routine 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. Although there were signs of wear and tear from Djokovic, who received two medical timeouts. The first was for a neck issue, and the second was for his right forearm. In the previous round, he was also troubled by a back problem whilst playing against Cameron Norrie.
At the age of 38, Djokovic is the oldest player to reach the quarter-final of every Grand Slam tournament during the same year. He has also become the first man to reach this stage at all four Grand Slams in nine different seasons.
Now the oldest player to reach the last eight in New York since Jimmy Connors in 1991, Djokovic is just three wins away from claiming the title. When asked during his press conference if winning the tournament could be the greatest achievement of his career, he agreed that it might be.
“It could be. Still a very long way [to go]. In the last couple of years, I learned to take one match at a time. And yes, of course, I’m dreaming about winning another Slam, and it would be amazing if I do it here,” said Djokovic.
“But I can’t allow myself to go that far with my thinking, because I just need to focus on what needs to be done to win the next match, next challenge.
“The last Grand Slam I won was here actually two years ago. So it would be a nice kind of journey in the last couple of years – to kind of close the circle here again would be great.”
Two players standing in his way are Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have won the last seven Grand Slam tournaments between them. Although his focus is now on his next opponent, 2024 runner-up Taylor Fritz. Djokovic boasts a perfect 10-0 head-to-head record against the American, with eight of those wins being in straight sets.
“I expect players that never won against me to come out on the court and try something different. Try to make me feel uncomfortable,” he explained.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any major changes with Taylor because you stick to the kind of game plan that got you to the quarters, and you know what your strengths are. You stick to those weapons, which for him obviously are serve and forehand.
“He has improved with his movement a lot. Backhand is also very solid, very flat. For a big guy, he moves really well. I think it’s quite underestimated how well he’s moving, and particularly the last couple of years, which was something that was probably missing in his game from before.”
Fritz is 41-15 so far in 2025, winning grass-court titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne. Although since January, he has only won one out of three meetings against top-10 players. In his fourth round match, Fritz defeated Tomas Machac 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
“Taylor definitely is one of the guys that no doubt has a game, has a potential to be a Grand Slam winner,” Djokovic commented.
“He was playing finals here last year, so he was one match away, so there is no reason not to believe that he can make it. Hopefully not this year, but any other year is fine.”
Djokovic has now reached the US Open quarter-finals on 14 occasions, which is the second-highest tally in the Open Era after Connors (17).
