WATCH the US Open men's singles semi-finals - Auger-Aliassime v Medvedev and Djokovic v Zverev - LIVE, FREE and in HD on SBS and live-streamed via SBS On Demand from 5 am (AEST) Saturday, September 11.
No opponent, or the prospect of what's at stake, has been too much to handle for the world number 1.
Not yet, anyway.
The 34-year-old is now only two wins away from marking his name as arguably the greatest to play the game.
Victory at the US Open for Djokovic would mean the Serbian has claimed the first calendar-year grand slam in men's tennis in 52 years, along with a men's-record 21st major championship overall.
Djokovic lost the opening set for the third consecutive match at Flushing Meadows - and ninth time at a major in 2021 - but again it didn't matter, because he quickly corrected his strokes to defeat Matteo Berrettini in five sets in their quarter-final clash on Thursday.
During his on-court interview, Djokovic cut off a question, sensing where it was headed, and said: "Do not ask me anything about history. I know it's there."
Djokovic is 26-0 in major tournaments this season, including trophies on the Australian Open's hard courts in February, the French Open's clay courts in June and Wimbledon's grass courts in July.
He beat Berrettini in the final at the All England Club.
Djokovic has added five victories on the US Open's hard courts and will face last year's runner-up Alexander Zverev on Saturday (AEST).
"He is the best player in the world," said Zverev, who beat Djokovic in the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics to end his bid for the golden slam (Olympic gold and all for majors in the same year).
"He is very difficult to beat."
If Djokovic can win that match and Sunday's final he will join Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) as the only men to claim all four major tennis singles trophies in one season.
Three women have done it, most recently Steffi Graf in 1988.
One more slam title also will break the men's record mark of 20 grand slams Djokovic currently shares with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Fourth-seeded Zverev goes into his 10th showdown with Djokovic on a 16-match winning streak,
The 24-year-old German, advanced to the semi-finals in New York by beating Lloyd Harris
Djokovic has a 6-3 head-to-head record over Zverev.
SBS will broadcast all US Open men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals, semi-finals and both finals LIVE, FREE and in HD, and live streamed via SBS On Demand from September 8-13
