US OPEN

August 31, 2025

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/J.L. Struff

6-3, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Welcome. Congratulations. Questions, please.

Q. Well played tonight. I understand that your quarterfinal match is going to be the same day as your daughter's birthday. Wonder what plans you have to celebrate with her virtually, and what emotions you're feeling knowing that on one hand you're playing in a slam quarterfinal trying to advance in this tournament but at the same time sacrificing being there for an important family moment.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It is what it is. We predicted that might happen.

Yeah, she was not very happy about it, me being absent from the birthday party. Don't remind me of that, please. But I'll try to win if I'm here. At least I'm going to try to win and give her that kind of present. I'm going to send some nice presents, as well (smiling), nice surprises for her birthday party. Hopefully the win can be something she can be happy with.

But again, yeah, daddy away and daddy present is a big difference. I know that, but it is what it is this year.

Q. The last couple of rounds you've played, it's come up that you were the oldest to make fourth round and quarters since Jimmy Connors in 1991. You were obviously very young when he made that semifinal run, but that's such a big part of this tournament's history. What do you know about that run in '91?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Was he 40 years old?

Q. 39 maybe.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: 39. I remember, I thought he was 40. I remember that run. I was very, very young, so I don't avidly remember it when it was happening, but in the years to come when I was growing up watching a lot of tennis, everyone was, you know, talking about that run being one of the most historic runs we had in sport on any slam.

You know, Jimmy Connors being one of the greatest tennis players of all time, greatest legends in general overall globally but particularly in this tournament. He's won it, like, five times? He's fired up the New York crowd like no other player has done in his career.

Yeah, just being in the same discussion or same conversation with Jimmy is obviously a huge honor of mine.

Q. Can I ask another historical one. Memories of your final here against Andy in 2012. Wonder what your main memories are of that match?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I was two sets to love down, I came back, played great third and fourth, then lost in the fifth. I remember it was probably the windiest US Open I've ever played.

In semifinals, I remember that day I was, I think I lost the first set against Ferrer or I was, you know, double break down. Then something happened, it never happened to me or I don't think to any other player before, which was the evacuation was called. So we had to evacuate and leave the stadium as soon as possible because of the, was it... What do you call this huge winds? Tornado, there was a tornado emergency. So I just remember that year was super, super windy and difficult just to play overall for anyone.

But yeah, I mean, Andy won his first US Open. I was close but I lost in the fifth. I lost to him in couple of Grand Slam finals. I lost to him also in Wimbledon, so he can't complain (smiling).

Q. You and Rafa and Roger obviously did something that no one else has done. You touched everyone's imagination for decades. In London you spoke about the possibility of the three of you getting together at some point. I would like to ask you: What sort of questions would you like to ask them or topics you'd like to talk with them about? Strokes or matches or great turning points or the whole process of navigating tennis?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: A lot of questions. I mean, yeah, I'll probably start with, you know, how did they approach matches against me, like, what did they feel like they needed to do to win. Where was I annoying? Just how would they train, how would they mentally prepare, like all of this, I'd love to pick their brains on that. That would be amazing.

Let's see if it happens. We don't know.

Q. When you're facing a player like Taylor Fritz, against whom you've had success previously, how much do you ever try to guess a change that an opponent might make or something they might try differently because you don't maybe assume he's going to keep doing the same things?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, that was the case with Norrie, actually, last round. I mean, he was playing more aggressively than he has ever played against me, to be honest.

So that's something I expect. I mean, I expect players that never won against me to come out on the court and try something different and try to make me feel maybe uncomfortable and play more aggressive or not, whatever.

I don't think there's going to be any major changes with Taylor, because, you know, obviously you stick to the kind of a game plan that got you to the quarters, and you know what your strengths are. You stick to those, you know, weapons, so to say, in your game, which for him obviously is serve and forehand, two big weapons in his game.

I think over the years he has improved with his movement a lot. Backhand is also very solid, very flat. For a big guy, he moves really well. I think it's quite underestimated how well he's moving, and particularly last couple years, which was something that was probably missing in his game from before.

That's what got him to finals and several semifinals of Grand Slam. He's knocking on that door. So obviously final stages of the tournament, quarters, we played in quarters before here some years ago. It was a day match, I remember, but now it's going to be night match. Obviously different conditions.

I don't know. That's what I hear it's going to be night match. Maybe, maybe not, I don't know. But let's see. I would like to play night, that would be great, because I've been playing really well at night. Let's see what happens.

Whatever it is, in the end of the day, I know what I have to do and how to execute my game plan. Obviously that's something that is unpredictable in the court. A lot of things can change and can affect the way you feel, the way you play.

What gives me a lot of encouragement right now and positivity is the way I played tonight. Best performance of the tournament so far. Hopefully I can keep that going.

Q. Given the age you are now, and obviously you've had so many incredible achievements in your career, but given the age you are and what you've got ahead, if you were to win this, would this be the biggest achievement of your career?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It could be. Still very long way. For me, last couple of years, I learned one thing right now is to take really one match at a time. And yes, of course I'm dreaming about winning another slam, and it would be amazing if I do it here.

But, you know, I can't allow myself to go that far with my thinking, because, yeah, I just need to focus on what needs to be done to win a match, next match, next challenge. The last Grand Slam I won was here actually two years ago. So it would be a nice, nice kind of journey in the last couple of years to kind of close the circle here again would be great. Let's see.

Q. You've had a few matchups in your career where you've been some double-digit number and 0 against an opponent. Monfils, you have a very good record against, and now Fritz you're 10-0. I'm wondering what the dynamic is like when you have that and if you have pressure off or everything to lose if suddenly this other person has nothing to lose, and how you manage that.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's kind of both. You have, I don't know, I mean, pressure is always there, but maybe a little bit less because you have more confidence coming into the matchup that you know that you never lost.

So you like matching up with the guys that you never lost against. But at the same time, you know, there's always anticipation for those matches. Like particularly with Monfils, you know, every single time I play him, people are, Okay, is this the time where he's going to beat me or not? Then there's always that added pressure that you feel on the court that you need to win. You don't want to let him win even one.

Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both.

Q. You were just referring to Taylor. A long time ago you were pursuing your first major title, as he is right now. How would you compare the mentality of that pursuit of No. 1 with what you're trying to do, pursuing No. 25?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Quite different. Obviously going for your first slam, you know, there's so much energy put into that. Anticipation, vision, you know, to accomplish that great goal, the dream of so many players, probably 99% of the players, young players starting their careers, they always dream of winning one of the slams.

For Taylor, as an American, I would assume that probably would be US Open, his dream tournament. For me, it was back in 2008 when I won my first slam. I felt a huge relief, to be honest. I was lucky to do it quite early in my career.

But, you know, you can see a guy like Zverev, for example, that has been in multiple slam finals, and he's been building so much pressure on himself, and everyone around him, you know, to win, because everyone knows that he's got all the goods to be a Grand Slam winner, but he still didn't make it. The longer it goes, the worse it becomes, the more weight on your shoulders you feel.

Yeah, you know, Taylor definitely is one of the guys that no doubt has a game, has a potential to be a Grand Slam winner. He was playing finals here last year, so he was one match away, so there is no reason not to believe that he can make it. Hopefully not this year, but any other year is fine.