Djokovic reaches the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 for the 75th time

A day after raising his record against Gael Monfils to 19-0, Djokovic increased his winning streak against Fritz to seven matches. The 23 Grand Slam owner easily defeated the number one American player in just 66 minutes, reaching the 75th Masters 1000 semi-final, close to the record of Rafael Nadal (76 times). Nole holds the record for the number of championships (38) and finalists (56) of the Masters.

The showdown in Cincinnati is a far cry from the last meeting at the ATP Finals last year, where Djokovic struggled to beat Fritz after two tie-breaks. This time, Nole dominated, successfully taking advantage of all five break-points. He did not let his opponent win a game in the first set. In the second set, Fritz led 2-0, then 4-2, before Nole won the last four games to reach the semi-finals against Alexander Zverev.

"I want to raise the bar a little bit every day," Nole said after the game. "I've played three great games here and I feel better after each game. Set one today was almost perfect, and so were the last four games."

The victory made Djokovic the second player to win tickets to the ATP Finals, after Carlos Alcaraz - who also reached the semi-finals against Hubert Hurkacz. Nole qualified for the 16th time in the tournament for the best eight players of the year. He has only missed an appointment with this tournament in the past 16 years, when he was injured in the second half of the 2017 season.

In 2023, Djokovic won only 36 matches, 16 matches behind Alcaraz. But Nole is still the most successful player at Grand Slam, winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and finishing second at Wimbledon.