How Novak Djokovic hijacks the fan support at US Open: “I want to feed off that energy”

WATCH: Rafael Nadal eyes Davis Cup as potential return | The Break

NEW YORK—How to deal with the rowdy, partisan crowds at the US Open? Just take them out of the equation entirely, the way Novak Djokovic did on Tuesday in his lopsided 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Taylor Fritz.

The quarterfinal meeting between Djokovic and the top-ranked American was circled as one of the biggest potential stumbling blocks for the 23-time Grand Slam winner. Not because the matchup was a particularly tricky one for Djokovic—he now owns an 8-0 lead in their head-to-head, which also includes a recent 6-0, 6-4 rout in Cincinnati—but because the setting appeared tailor-made to make Djokovic lose his cool: Playing an American in front of a full Arthur Ashe Stadium determined to will his opponent over the finish line.

“Today it was a great test to see how it feels being on the court in the quarterfinals against a top American,” Djokovic told press afterward.

“Sometimes I just like to not really pay attention to what's going on on the stands. But sometimes I want to respond, and I want to feed off that energy. So that's what was happening today. That was the case.”

If there was ever a moment that sums up the way Djokovic can hijack a crowd’s energy and turn it on himself, it came in a crucial stretch of the third set in his quarterfinal. The Serbian had not given the fans much to root for up until then, having cruised in the first set and held off all four break points he faced in the second.

The golden opportunity for Fritz came in the form of two break opportunities at 3-2, 40-15—but as the crowd roared, urging on the American, Djokovic clawed both back, ripping a backhand down the line to shut down the noise. In his biggest show of emotion of the match, Djokovic celebrated directly toward the fans on Ashe.

“He could have had a chance to break if the crowd kept silent, but now Djokovic has found some inspiration,” commentator Chris Fowler pointed out on ESPN. A game later, the No. 2 seed broke Fritz instead and stared down the crowd again, raising his fist on the way to the chair. While the job wasn’t quite over yet—another exchange of service breaks was needed to close it out—everyone watching understood the window had already closed for Fritz.

“I didn't really want him to win the third set, because then I guess the crowd would really get into it even more and it would become more difficult task for me to handle,” Djokovic acknowledged. “It's normal, it's logical to expect that most of the crowd would support the home player.

“That's probably going to be the case on Friday, but I'll be ready for it.”

On Friday, an arguably bigger test awaits Djokovic in the semifinals, as he’s set to face the winner of No. 47 Ben Shelton and No. 10 Frances Tiafoe. Neither of them ranked as high as Fritz or has as much experience in facing Djokovic as their countryman—but the three-time US Open winner was more focused on a different set of intangibles as he analyzed the matchup, highlighting their “charisma” and ability to whip an American crowd into a frenzy.

“Both of the guys that I'm going to face eventually on Friday, Shelton and Tiafoe, have a lot of charisma. They bring a lot of energy on the court,” he said. “Actually, both players thrive on the energy of the crowd, of the center court. It kind of gets them going, and they play their best.”

But as Djokovic showed once again against Fritz, he thrives off that energy too, whether or not it’s aimed in his support.

After putting on another masterclass in match management—how to manage the tricky conditions, how to manage the crowd, and how to manage Fritz’s game—he’ll be primed to shut down, or feed off, the rocking atmosphere on Ashe. Will Shelton or Tiafoe be ready?

Novak Djokovic’s major dominance against Americans:

• Has won 14 in a row and 24 of 25 matches (lone loss: Sam Querrey, 2016 Wimbledon 3R)
• Moved to 32-3 overall after today's win
• Improved to 12-0 at the US Open (defeated 11 different opponents)