Superman has his kryptonite. Sisyphus had his rock. And Taylor Fritz has Novak Djokovic. 

Fritz is gone from the U.S. Open, extending the American men’s funk of Grand Slam futility to 22 straight years. And he was defeated once again by the man he’s still never beaten, ousted by Djokovic 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. 

“He was the better player second and third set. I got really out of trouble in the second, somehow found a way,” Djokovic said. “I was just trying to survive. 

“In important moments in the fourth, I served well, mixed it up, came to the net. Just tried to give him a different look and waited patiently for my opportunity. … It’s one of those days where you just have to grind. You just have to play with your heart and fight. That’s what really gave me the win in the end.” 

That win sent the 38-year-old into a celebratory dance from “KPop Demon Hunters” — in honor of his daughter Tara’s birthday Tuesday — and into the semis vs. Carlos Alcaraz. And the loss sent Fritz to a galling 0-11 against his nemesis, wondering just what he’ll have to do to finally break through. 

Well, breaking would be a start. He was 2-of-13 on break points, 0-of-5 just in the final game of the second set. For many moments, Fritz was every bit as good as Djokovic. The Serb won 130 points to his 126 — but Fritz couldn’t get the ones he absolutely, positively had to have, double-faulting to end the match. 

“Realistically, I just can’t come out of those first two sets down two sets to love. I need to play better,” Fritz said. “That’s one of the things that makes the great players great: They win the big points. 

“I’m going to need to go out and take those points from him. He’s not just going to hand them over to me. That’s exactly what happened. … So it was tough for me to go out and take those points.” 

The night started off-kilter for Fritz, taking the court with his trademark Hugo Boss headband on upside down. When he finally changed it to start the third set, the momentum changed as well. But it was too little, too late. 

With the crowd desperately wanting to get behind the last U.S. man standing, Djokovic willingly played the villain. 

“I wear my heart on my sleeve for this sport,” Djokovic said. “It still matters.” 

Djokovic had taken a bow after one impossible forehand crosscourt winner, then put his hand to his ear and waved to the crowd after taking the second set. But when he got heated at chair ump Damien Dumusois for not doing the impossible — silencing fired-up New Yorkers — the Frenchman offered him sage advice. 

“It’s not going to help, Novak,” Dumusois warned. 

The crowd — some of whom paid $10,000 to be in the stands — doubled and tripled down. They got louder, and Fritz got better, breaking to go up 3-1 in the third. 

With just two aces through the first two sets, Fritz hit seven in the third. He capped a 13-shot rally with a winner to take the set. 

But he wouldn’t get the fourth. 

Fritz is one of tennis’ better servers, with the second-most aces on the tour this season. But after averaging 15, he didn’t have any in the opening set, and was 1-of-11 on his second serve. 

Djokovic is history’s greatest returner, and in the second set Fritz got just 38 percent of his first serves in. 

With Djokovic serving up 5-3, Fritz had five break points but couldn’t convert any of them. There was a 25-shot rally that saw Djokovic go for the line and point to his ear to troll the crowd en route to taking the set. 

Fritz had been the last man to drop the first two sets to Djokovic and force a fifth, four years ago in Australia. But at 5-4 in the fourth, Djokovic stepped back deeper on Fritz’s serve and the American’s double-fault handed him the match. 

“I had so many more chances that you’re not going to see on a stat line,” Fritz said. “I was converting and playing these points just really poorly. 

“Just bad decision-making, because I wasn’t playing as well as I would’ve wanted to.”