Novak Djokovic does K-pop dance for his daughter after US Open quarterfinal win
Novak Djokovic is quite literally dancing his way into the U.S. Open semifinal after he bested Taylor Fritz, the last American man standing, on Tuesday night under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The World No. 7 Serbian tennis star defeated the 2024 U.S. Open runner-up after a nearly three and a half hour match and took a moment to re-enact a simple K-pop-inspired dance routine he said he learned from his 8-year-old daughter Tara that she could watch when she woke up on her birthday.
Novak Djokovic does K-pop celebration dance at US Open for daughter's birthday
"[Sept. 2 is] my daughter's birthday, so this is a big present for her," he said after the match, making a heart with his hands.
He said that his daughter would "rate me tomorrow" on the dance performance, "because she told me how to [do the] dance."
"It's 'KPop Demon Hunters' -- 'Soda Pop' is the name of the song," he added, referencing the hit Netflix animated film.
"KPop Demon Hunters" premiered on Netflix in June and has since become the streamer's most popular English-language movie ever, with more than 236 million views. The film follows a world-renowned K-pop girl group balancing their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters.
Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo star in the film.
"Obviously it's a big thing globally for teenagers and for kids, but I didn't know about it before my daughter told me a few months ago, so we're at home doing different choreographies, and this is one of them," Djokovic said Tuesday. "So hopefully I'll make her smile when she wakes up tomorrow morning."
Novak Djokovic beats Taylor Fritz to advance to US Open semifinal with Carlos Alcaraz
The four-time U.S. Open Champion is semifinal-bound for the 14th time at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, marking his fourth Grand Slam semifinal of a calendar year for a record seventh time, per the tournament.
This extends the 38 year old's record of Grand Slam semifinal appearances to 53.
Djokovic will take on No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz on Friday, a familiar match up for the pair, who have split all four matches at Grand Slams.
The Spanish tennis star defeated Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2023 and 2024, but Djokovic took home a gold medal over Alcaraz at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
With that victory Djokovic, accomplished what's known as the career Golden Slam and joined tennis greats Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal as the only other man to win all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic champion singles title.
The semifinal match between Djokovic and Alcaraz will air on ESPN Friday.
