The 38-year-old Serbian legend checked the first obstacle off his list by defeating No. 4 Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American man and last year’s runner-up, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, in a 3-hour, 24-minute quarterfinal Tuesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Carlos Alcaraz finger-wagged the crowd, beat Jiri Lehecka to the net and cruised his way into the semifinals at the U.S. Open.