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<\/p>\nNovak Djokovic will have to go against the home crowd in the US Open semi-finals. But he has already warned opponent Ben Shelton he will \u201cthrive\u201d in that environment.<\/p>\n
Djokovic faced home favorite Taylor Fritz on Arthur Ashe on Tuesday and cruised to a straight-sets win with a dominant performance. He will now face another American on Friday after Shelton beat Frances Tiafoe in the final game of the night.<\/p>\n
The Serbian superstar has known for a few days that two Americans would stand in his way en route to the final. Speaking after beating Fritz, he warned that he is more than happy playing in front of a crowd backing his opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s expected that people are backing the home player,\u201d Djokovic warned. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with that. I actually like the energy.. I\u2019m fine with that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually thrive on that energy. Whatever the energy is, I use it as fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Djokovic is on a 30-match win streak against American players. He\u2019ll hope to make that 31 on Friday against Shelton.<\/p>\n
Speaking after his win over Fritz and before Shelton beat Tiafoe, Djokovic declared: \u201cI\u2019m going to be playing another American I gotta be ready for whatever is going to come my way from the opposite side of the net.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth Tiafoe and Shelton are very charismatic\u2026It\u2019s going to be a joy watching them and let\u2019s see what happens on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victory over Tiafoe was the biggest moment in young Shelton’s career so far. After his triumph, he was overjoyed and thanked fans for staying late into the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n