You feel trapped in this heat, inside and outside
DJOKOVIC SURVIVES IN GRUELLING CHALLENGE
I’m proud to overcome it but it was not enjoyable
NOVAK DJOKOVIC suffered in the afternoon heat to reach his 11th Australian Open semi-final – then insisted TV has “the biggest power” after Jannik Sinner won through to their last-four clash in the early hours of the morning.
The Serbian survived four gruelling sets to fight off inspired American Taylor Fritz for his record-equalling 33rd straight win here at Melbourne Park.
Djokovic was playing his second consecutive match in the afternoon session, instead of his favoured 7pm slot.
The 10-time champion placed ice all over his body during changeovers in the 30C (86F) heat during his 7-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 victory in 3hrs 45mins.
Djokovic, who had a viral infection earlier in the tournament, said: “It was a real struggle – physically, mentally, emotionally.
“We both felt the effect of the heat. It’s hard to put down your heart rate and control your breathing. It’s very intense. The ice bags on the head, all over the body, is one of the ways to try to bring the temperature down, cool yourself down a bit, because you feel you’re trapped in this heat, inside and outside.
“I suffered a lot in the first couple of sets. He was suffocating me from the back of the court.
“I’m proud to have overcome the challenge but it was not enjoyable at all.” Starting at 4.43pm, Fritz’s first service game set the tone by lasting 16 minutes and 24 points.
Djokovic took the tiebreak – and responded by blowing kisses to Nick Kyrgios in the TV commentary box – but the big-serving American saved all 15 break points he faced in the first two sets.
The world No.1 then took three of his next five to move within two wins of his 25th Grand Slam tournament title. “I managed to break him when it mattered in the third and fourth sets,” he said.
Djokovic is unbeaten here since 2018 and equalled the winning streak set by Serbianborn Monica Seles between 1991-99.
The long matches won by Coco Gauff and Djokovic caused discussions over moving the Aryna Sabalenka match against Barbora Krejcikova to another court during the Serb’s win.
But the schedule was followed and Sinner against Andrey Rublev did not start until 10.42pm.
In a match that lasted only three sets, Sinner winning 6-4 7-6 6-3, the players still finished at 1.22am.
Eurosport analyst John McEnroe said: “It’s just crazy to put these guys out there that late.
“For the fans, players and the tournament, they need to do something.”
With both men’s semi-finals now held on Friday, Djokovic said: “What kind of advantage will I have? We have two days so plenty of time to recover.”
But Fritz said: “It’s rough. It just screws up your whole clock.”
Djokovic added: “TV broadcasting pays a lot of money to the tournament and sponsors the tournament.
“TV broadcasting channels have the biggest power. We know that, which is not unusual because they are the ones that are giving us the platform to reach out to millions of people around the world, which is great for us.
“It’s hard to say what the best scenario is in this case.”