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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic is back at the stage of the Australian Open where he's never been beaten.
The 10-time champion held off Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in 3 3/4 hours on Tuesday to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the 11th time.
He's won all 10 semifinals he’s contested at Melbourne Park, and all 10 finals.
In his record-extending 48th Grand Slam semifinal, he’ll play No. 4-seeded Jannik Sinner or No. 5 Andrey Rublev. They started their quarterfinal at 10:42 p.m.
Djokovic has spent more time on court so far through five rounds than ever at Melbourne Park — more than 15 hours — but thinks he's still building into it. He's on a 33-match winning streak at the Australian Open — a tournament record he shared with his childhood inspiration, Monica Seles — so he should know.
The first game took 16 minutes and the first set lasted 1 hour, 24 minutes. Fritz got the first break of serve, and Djokovic said he was on the back foot at times until the third set.
