Novak Djokovic beats Taylor fritz in Australian Open to qualify for 11th semi-final

Novak Djokovic has again booked his place in the Australian Open semi-finals after seeing off American Taylor Fritz in four sets. The Serbian No.1 seeded player reached the semi-final for the 11th time. The 24-times winner has won all ten of Melbourne Park's semifinals and finals. He won the game with a 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. In his record-extending 48th Grand Slam semifinal, he will face either No. 4 Jannik Sinner or No. 5 Andrey Rublev.

The defending champion was dominant towards the end, but he lost his cool with his coaching staff after missing eight break points at the end of the first set. The first game set the tone for a lengthy, and good battle. It lasted 16 minutes and had 24 points, with nine of them going to deuce.

Fritz resisted three breakpoints before eventually holding. The first set lasted one hour and twenty-four minutes, the longest of the tournament, and was tied until the tiebreaker. Djokovic sealed a 21-shot rally with a brilliant backhand crosscourt winner to earn five set points. He pressed his finger to his ear and nodded at the crowd.

Djokovic eyes another Grand Slam

Fritz hit back to claim the second set before the Serbian's power and quality told as he took control of the third and fourth sets. The latter struggled to hold in a game that had 14 points and then was broken in the sixth. Djokovic denied any more twists by breaking back again for 5-3 and serving out.

Djokovic said after the game "We all know Taylor has got one of the best serves in the world. I knew the kind of threat he posed when he served on such a high quality. My conversion was really poor but at the end of the day, I managed to break him when it mattered. I upped my game midway through the third set, all the way to the end."

If Djokovic qualifies for the final he might be eligible to win the first Grand Slam of the year.