The coach of American tennis star Taylor Fritz called his own player “atrocious” during his quater-final defeat to Novak Djokovic. Fritz, 27, came into his last-eight clash against the Serbian with plenty of confidence having dispatched Czechian No. 21 seed Tomas Machac in straight sets.

However, against the 24-time Grand Slam winner, it was defeat for the American once again, as Djokovic bested him 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to progress into the semi-finals. It was another painful loss for Fritz, who has now lost to the seventh seed on 11 occasions. Before the match, Fritz’s coach Michael Russell instructed Fritz to be brave on the break points and bounce of the immense energy his native US crowd generated in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Soon after Fritz gave away a vital game in poor fashion, Russell was interviewed by broadcasters and he did not hold back in his verdict of his player’s display.

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Russell said to ESPN: “The 5-5 game was atrocious. A donation. That’s why we sent him off court (after the second set). He’s giving Novak too much credit.

“Just stay in the rally and find a forehand to go after. A lot of it is psychological, he has lost to him 10 times, but it’s the US Open – get the crowd involved and just relax.”

While some viewers may have found Russell’s brutal commentary jarring, Fritz’s own assessment of his display was equally damning. The World No. 4 was furious with the way he failed to take the vast majority of his break point opportunities.

Referring to the stage in the match where he had 10 break point opportunities only to not take any, Fritz said: “The fact that I was 0-10, that’s putting it nicely.

“I had so many more chances that you’re not going to see on a stat line, because I had so many. I was in points at 0-30, 15-30, 30-30. I was just converting and playing these points just really poorly.”

Djokovic even admitted Fritz had him on the ropes on numerous points of the contest, describing the Californian as “the better player” in large parts. But when it came to taking opportunities, Djokvoic’s experience got him through the contest.

Admitting he learned some more harsh lessons from Djokovic, Fritz said: “At the end of the day, that’s one of the things that makes the great players great. They win the big points, and that’s something that I kind of touched on before the match. I’m going to need to go out and take those points from him. He’s not just going to hand them over to me.”

Djokovic faces familiar foe Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final for a place in the final on Sunday. Alcaraz continued his stunning record of not dropping a set in New York this summer, overcoming Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in his last-eight clash.