Djokovic explodes for rout of Fritz

Novak Djokovic kept a clean career slate against Taylor Fritz as the Serb crushed the American 6-0,6-4 on Friday in the Cincinnati Masters quarter-finals to improve to 7-0 in their series.

The two-time tournament winner needed just 62 minutes to deliver the knockout blow to the national No. 1 and set up a Saturday semi-final against Alexander Zverev.

The German moved into his first Masters semi since Rome 2022, and won his eighth match against France’s Adrian Mannarino, 6-2, 6-3.

The player who earned the 2021 trophy here has won his last nine Cincinnati matches.

Djokovic ran the table in his first set against Fritz in 21 minutes but lost serve to start the second.,

He finally got square again for 4-all and broke again two games later to claim victory.

“I managed to get out of the blocks with a flawless start,” he said.

“I started the second set poorly, handing him the break.

‘But from 2-4 down I played four solid games, overall it was a great performance.

“I’ve played three good matches here so far, every day I raise the bar a bit higher.

“I’m feeling better on court; I hope the same trajectory can continue.

“My tennis is coming along quite well,” Zverev said.

“It was important for me to compete well after Toronto last week (early loss) and play some good tennis.