'What are you gonna do?' Djokovic clashes with umpire, reaches US Open semis to create more history

A furious Novak Djokovic protests to the chair umpire. (Stan Sport)

Ageing like fine wine, Novak Djokovic is through to another US Open semi-final after a hard-fought four-set win against the last American standing, Taylor Fritz, but not without drama.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion extended his astonishing head-to-head record over Fritz to 11-0, saving 11 break point chances to prevail 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

At 38 years and 94 days, Djokovic becomes the oldest player in the Open era to reach the semi-finals of all four majors in the same year.

"Incredibly close match," he said in his on-court interview. "It was really anybody's match. I thought I was lucky to save some crucial break points in the second set. I think for most of the second and third set, he was a better player. In these kind of matches, a few points decide the winner."

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Djokovic also had to deal with a handful of hecklers amongst the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, as he took matters into his own hands.

"What are you gonna do? [You are telling them] thank you, please, thank you, please. You need to explain it a little bit more," the Serbian explained to the chair umpire.

Before that spat, he blew a kiss in the direction of the hecklers after going two sets up.

At one point in the match, Djokovic was heard saying, "They're doing me a favour," when talking about a portion of disrespectful spectators.

"The more they cheer against me, the better it is for me. They wake something in me that they don't want to see — a winner."

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The win sets up an enticing clash with world No.2 and former US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

Djokovic has won five of the eight matches contested between the pair, and has never lost to the Spaniard on hard courts (3-0).

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