Bet on Novak Djokovic to make quick work of Taylor Fritz at US Open on Tuesday

Taylor Fritz has conquered some of his demons at the 2023 US Open but has he really answered any of the hard questions?

On one hand it’s impressive that the 25-year-old American has made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open for the first time in his career, but on the other it’s hard to draw up a softer path to this point in a Grand Slam than the one that Fritz has had to conquer. He hasn’t dropped a set, but that’s not that surprising when you consider he’s played World No. 205 Steve Johnson, clay-court specialist Juan Pablo Varillas, 17-year-old Jakub Mensik and qualifier Dominic Stricker.

Needless to say a showdown with Novak Djokovic represents a massive step up in competition for Fritz.

Speaking of soft draws, Djokovic certainly caught a break with his path to the quarterfinals. The only seeded player that Djokovic has played was Laslo Djere, who was the lowest seed in the entire field, and he just faced a player outside the top 100 (Borna Gojo) in the Round of 16. You’d be hard-pressed to find an easier route to the business end of a grand slam than the ones that Fritz and Djokovic faced in Flushing over the past week.

It does need to be noted that Djokovic did face some serious pressure in his match against Djere in the Round of 32. Djokovic dropped the first two sets to his fellow Serb, but he turned the match completely around in the third set and rolled from that point forward.

There were some questions about whether Djokovic was in his best form after that performance, but the 23-time Grand Slam winner answered those skeptics with a straightforward win over Gojo in the fourth round.

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And even though Fritz is a star and will have the American fans behind him, this matchup clearly suits Djokovic. The Serb is 7-0 against Fritz all-time and is coming off a dominant 6-0, 6-4 victory in Cincinnati last month. Djokovic is the best defender of all-time and can handle the power that Fritz generates with his serve and groundstrokes, which extends rallies beyond the point of comfortability for the Californian.

Djokovic is 42-5 in 2023 and is an other-worldly 43-3 on hard courts over the last calendar year and I like his chances to make quick work of Fritz on Tuesday afternoon.

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