Novak Djokovic made Grand Slam history at 38 on Sunday, cruising past Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals – but the milestone came with a personal cost: the match fell on his daughter’s birthday.
"Yeah, she was not very happy about it, me being absent from the birthday party. Don’t remind me of that, please,” Djokovic said, reflecting on the sacrifices that come with competing at the highest level.
The win marked Djokovic’s 64th Grand Slam quarterfinal, extending his all-time record, and kept his pursuit of a record 25th major title alive. Yet even in triumph, the Serbian star’s thoughts lingered on family, underscoring the balancing act required at this stage of his career.
"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,” Djokovic said.
"I'm going to send some nice presents, as well, nice surprises for her birthday party.”
The match itself was a masterclass in experience over power during the 109-minute encounter at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Djokovic dominated from the opening game, breaking the 35-year-old German’s serve six times. His own serve proved decisive against a player who entered the match with the tournament’s second-highest ace count at 66.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion fired 12 aces while winning 79% of first-serve points, completely neutralizing Struff’s biggest weapon.
"It definitely helps if you serve well. I think I had a great serving performance in the last round and also tonight,” Djokovic said.
"I just saw the stats, I out-served one of the guys that had the most aces during the tournament this year, so that’s a great stat. Obviously, that helps make my life easier on the court.”
Struff, ranked 144th in the world, had defeated two seeded players – Holger Rune (11th) and Frances Tiafoe (17th) – to reach his first U.S. Open fourth round but was unable to put any serious pressure on the seventh seed. The German managed only 19 winners and committed 32 unforced errors.
Their combined age of 73 years and 60 days made this the oldest U.S. Open men’s singles match in the fourth round or later during the professional era.
Djokovic, who now has a 36-0 record against qualifiers at Grand Slams, required treatment from the physiotherapist on his right shoulder and forearm during the match but did not appear overly troubled by the issues.
While he is heading toward a potential semifinal against world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic said he was not looking beyond his quarterfinal opponent, Taylor Fritz.
"For me, the last couple of years, I learned one thing – right now is to take really one match at a time,” he added.