By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday September 3, 2025
Novak Djokovic is back in the US Open semifinals for the 14th time, but at 38 years old, the 24-time Grand Slam champion isn’t making any promises about how his body will hold up against Carlos Alcaraz on Friday night in New York.
“Let’s see in two days’ time,” Djokovic said after his quarterfinal win over Taylor Fritz. “Good thing about the schedule is now that I have two days without a match, so that helps a lot. I don’t feel very fresh at the moment, but hopefully in two days it will be different.”
Djokovic has defeated Alcaraz in their last two encounters. He outlasted the Spaniard in the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics last summer, then followed it up with another epic victory at this year’s Australian Open. But he knows the 22-year-old is going to be a handful, given how well he has played through five rounds, and is apprehensive about how much his body will need to withstand physically.
The Serbian has already made history this year, becoming the oldest man to reach the semifinals at all four majors in a single season. But his incredible form still hasn’t been good enough to keep Sinner and Alcaraz from winning all three majors leading into the Open. He played well against Sinner in the Roland-Garros semifinals but couldn’t get a set. At Wimbledon in July, he pulled up injured in the waning moments of his quarterfinal win over Flavio Cobolli and had little to give in a straight-sets loss to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.
“I definitely am not going with a white flag on the court,” Djokovic said. “I don’t think anybody does really when they play them, but particularly not me. I put myself in another semifinal of a Grand Slam this year. I have been very consistent, most consistent on slams this season, and that’s what I said at the beginning of the year, where I would like to perform my best tennis and make the best results. Here we are. I have another chance, another shot. Hopefully, as I said, I can be fit enough and play well enough to keep up with Carlos. Then it can be anybody’s match.”
Djokovic is expecting a marathon.
“It’s not going to get easier, I tell you that,” he said. “The next couple of days is really key for me to really get my body in shape and ready to battle five sets if it’s needed. I just would really love that. Would love to be fit enough to play and to play potentially five sets with Carlos. I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I’d rise to the occasion.”
And even if Djokovic gets through Alcaraz, he knows the job will only be half done. A likely final showdown with Sinner, the man who stopped him cold in the last two majors, could await on Sunday with a record 25th major title on the line.
“Normally I like to play the big matches on a big stage,” Djokovic said. “It’s just that I’m not really sure how the body is going to feel in the next few days. I’m going to do my very best with my team to be fit for that. There’s going to be a lot of running involved, that’s for sure. It’s not going to be short points.”
