Novak Djokovic was cruising along with a big early lead in his US Open fourth-round match on Sunday night when his neck started bothering him. That didn’t stop Djokovic from dominating 144th-ranked qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his record 64th Grand Slam
quarterfinal.
“What gives me a lot of encouragement right now, and positivity, is the way I played tonight,” Djokovic said. “Best performance of the tournament so far. Hopefully I can keep that going.”
Djokovic was ahead 4-0, 15-love when he hit a nicely angled volley winner to go up 30-love in that game. The 24-time Grand Slam champion immediately grabbed at the back of his neck and started turning his head.
The 38-year-old Djokovic kept trying to stretch his neck or flex his right shoulder between points, and he went on to drop that game and the next one, too. But he soon regained the upper hand against Struff, who beat Frances Tiafoe in the previous round and was trying to get to a major quarterfinal for the first time.
After improving to 8-0 against Struff, Djokovic now carries a 10-0 head-to-head record into his quarterfinal on Tuesday against 2024 US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz.
The No. 4-seeded Fritz, the last American man in the bracket, moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory Sunday against No. 21 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic.
Jessica Pegula in last 8: Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, which used to be her roadblock.
The way Pegula is playing at this US Open, it may be just another stop on the way back to the final.
The No. 4 seed rolled into the last eight by routing fellow American Ann Li 6-1, 6-2 in just 54 minutes on Sunday. She will face Barbora Krejcikova on Tuesday after the two-time Grand Slam champion fought off eight match points in a second set that ended with a 25-minute tiebreaker and beat Taylor Townsend 1-6, 7-6 (13), 6-3.
Townsend was trying to reach her first quarterfinal in her 31st Grand Slam appearance.
CARLOS ADVANCES: Carlos Alcaraz hit a behind-the-back shot to win a point in a 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Arthur Rinderknech that made the Spaniard the youngest man in the Open era to reach 13 Grand Slam quarterfinals.
Sabalenka returned to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Cristina Bucsa. Sabalenka’s next opponent will be 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who defeated 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 at night with the help of 13 aces, including three in the last game.