Second seed is into last eight in New York for the 13th time.
Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a fourth US Open crown on Sunday night with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win over Croatian quaifier Borna Gojo to reach the quarter-finals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in two hours and 25 minutes.
Novak converted five of his 13 break point chances, while Gojo used the only break point opportunity he earned during the match.
”I knew that Borna had a big game, even though we hadn’t faced each other at the tour level,” Djokovic said. “I was watching him play qualifying and also the last couple of rounds of the main draw and I saw that he has big weapons with his serve and forehand and that he moves pretty well for a big guy. One of the keys to the match was to neutralize his serve, try to reduce the number of aces and winners from that shot. Good intensity, great first set, I didn’t want to be flat like in the first two sets of 3rd round. Second set was quite close. The key was to make him run and get as many serves as I could. Pleased to go in straights.”
Match statistics: aces (11-14), double faults (3-8), winners (25-40), unforced errors (12-40), total points won (107-82).
For a place in the semi-finals, Novak will face Taylor Fritz who defeated NextGen ATP player Dominic Stricker of Switzerland 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
The American ninth seed, against whom the 23-time major winner holds a perfect 7-0 H2H record, is through to the quarter-finals in New York for the first time.
Djokovic is looking for his 24th Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows, where he lifted the trophy in 2011, 2015 and 2018.
Photo: Profimedia
