Novak Djokovic may have broken a racquet or two and gone through brief stints of rage in his last two rounds, but the world No1 can now take some comfort in his perfect record against Marin Cilic when he takes on the Croat in the semi-finals on Friday.
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Djokovic dropped his first two sets of the fortnight against Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round and Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals en route to his ninth consecutive appearance in the US Open last four.
The Serb admitted he was frustrated at his dips in form in his last two matches but he goes into his next one carrying a supreme 13-0 head-to-head record over Cilic, the defending champion.
Cilic overcame a battling Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets to reach his third career grand slam semi-final and take his winning streak at the US Open to 12 straight victories.
Djokovic, who has now made the semis in 20 of his last 21 majors, is aware of the fact that he has never lost to Cilic but is still wary of the ninth-seeded Croatian, who had his breakthrough moment on Arthur Ashe Stadium last year to capture his first and only grand slam title.
“I would think Cilic takes more confidence because of the fact that he won his first grand slam title last year in New York,” said Djokovic after his four-set win over Lopez in the quarters.
“He hasn’t lost a match, you know, 12, 13 matches in a row, so I’m sure that he feels confident.
“He won today a really close match. A couple of five-setters he had already in this tournament.
“But he has a big serve. I think around 30 aces he had today, so the serve gets him out of trouble. I know him very well. I have played with him many, many times. We are great friends. Great guy.
“I know what to do, and I’m hoping I can execute the game-plan obviously and play my best.”
Cilic has been averaging 22 aces per match so far at this year’s Open and despite having an average season, where he missed the Australian Open with a shoulder injury, he has managed to recapture some of the form that saw him triumph last year.
“I’m sure he’s gonna try to be aggressive, going to try to take his chances. That’s how he won last year’s US Open. I watched him play. He played great. Best tennis of his life,” said Djokovic.
“This is where he loves playing. He loves the conditions on Arthur Ashe. As I said, I’m going to try to use that advantage and having success against him in the past and to my favour.”
Cilic believes it’s important not to put too much thought into his poor record against Djokovic.
“Definitely toughest matchup for me,” said Cilic. “I haven’t beaten him ever in my career. I had close matches last few years, but I haven’t found the right formula to be able to win a match.
“We will see. Trying to approach every match as a new one. Of course when you look at the statistic that he won that many matches against me, doesn’t go in my favour, absolutely.
“But when you’re coming to the match it’s always going from zero, so it’s a new match. It’s different stage, and I’m feeling good here on the court.”
