John Millman, who memorably advanced to the quarterfinals at the expense of Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer, fell to straight sets at the hands of Serbian sixth seed Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4 6-4.
It was a sad comedown for the unheralded Aussie, who put in the shift of a lifetime on Tuesday, ousting five-time winner Federer with a four-set victory to set up Wednesday's match with the Serb.
In humid conditions that looked to sap both players, the 29-year-old couldn't equal that match's intensity against Djokovic, the two-time US Open champion, who's playing in his 12th American slam tournament.
Djokovic said after the match that he'd been "very tested," and paid fulsome praise to his opponent after the 2 hour, 49 minute match.
"(The match was) almost three hours -- it's midnight now. Credit to John for putting up a great battle. He's truly a great fighter.
"He's had an amazing tournament, first quarterfinals. To come out here (after Tuesday's win against Federer ) here and fight for three hours, he deserves a round of applause."
Humid conditions
From early on in the match Millman, who had previously never progressed past the third round at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, looked flustered and out of breath.
After four games of the second set the Australian approached the umpire to request an outfit change due to excessive sweating, which he said was making the court slippery and dangerous. He reappeared six-and-a-half minutes later, and later changed his white shirt for a black one.
Deeming it an "equipment out of adjustment" provision, the umpire did not penalize the Australian for the break. A smiling Djokovic admitted that he'd welcomed the mid-set rest while his opponent changed.
The Serb said that the trying conditions had made the match difficult for both players.
"(We were) struggling at the end of the first set. Just trying to hang in there, trying to find a way to win the match. It's happened a couple of times in this tournament that you survive on the court and thrive with a win."
Marching on
The win meant that Djokovic advances to his 11th straight US semifinal -- a streak only bettered by Jimmy Connors. He praised the Arthur Ashe crowd and thanked them for staying up to cheer him on.
"There are so many people that stayed at the stadium and its past midnight. These guys love tennis... it's a pleasure to come back to New York and play in front of you guys," he said, addressing the fans.
This year's edition has been fairly smooth sailing for Djokovic, who has only dropped two sets en route to the semis and has switched up a gear in his last three matches.
On his way to the semis, where he will meet Japan's Kei Nishikori, he's swatted aside Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, American Tennys Sandgren, Richard Gasquet of France and the Portuguese Joao Sousa.
Rafael Nadal, who endured an epic, five-set quarterfinal against Austrian Dominic Thiem on Tuesday, will contest the other men's semifinal against Argentina's 2009 US Open champion Juan del Potro.
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