NOVAK DJOKOVIC admits daughter Tara is not happy he will be missing her birthday party as he chases Slam number 25.
His last-eight clash in New York on Tuesday coincides with the anniversary of his little girl’s arrival into the world eight years ago.
Taylor Fritz, the last remaining American man, will try to play the role of party pooper but it is unlikely he can do that, especially as he has lost all TEN of their past meetings.
Asked about the unfortunate clash of dates, Djokovic – who also has a 10-year-old son Stefan with wife Jelena – said: “It is what it is. We predicted that might happen.
“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, nice surprises for her birthday party. Hopefully the win can be something she can be happy with.
“Daddy being present is a big difference. I know that, but it is what it is this year.”
The Serbian, 38, is the oldest man into the US Open quarter-finals since American Jimmy Connors – who is 73 on Tuesday – got there, aged 39, in 1991.
Eight-time Grand Slam champion Connors, whose first US Open was in 1970, made it to the semi-finals as a wildcard but ended up losing to eventual champion Jim Courier.
Djokovic, a four-time champion in New York, said: “When I was growing up watching a lot of tennis, everyone talked about that run being one of the most historic runs we’ve had in sport on any Slam.
“Jimmy Connors is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, one of the greatest legends overall globally, but particularly in this tournament.
“He’s won it five times. He’s fired up the New York crowd like no other player has done in his career.
“Just being in the same discussion or same conversation with Jimmy is obviously a huge honour of mine.”
Californian Fritz, 27, lost to Italian world No1 Jannik Sinner in the 2024 final and he will be supported by social media influencer girlfriend Morgan Riddle.
The No4 seed has a rocky route, dropping sets to qualifiers Lloyd Harris and Jerome Kym, but he is hoping the Arthur Ashe Stadium fans get behind him as he tries to end the Djokovic hoodoo.
He said: “The first seven or eight times I played him, I probably wasn’t a good-enough player to really have that much of a chance. Unless I had the best day ever and he’s had a bad day.
“What makes it tough is he serves well, he serves aggressively on second serves. It’s tough to take advantage of his serve for how well he also returns.
“I’m happy to be here and hopefully if the crowd can get behind me, we can do this.”
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