Novak Djokovic Starts US Open With A Win To Hunt Another Grand Slam!
Tennis: Novak Djokovic Starts US Open With A Win To Hunt Another Grand Slam!
Serbian Star World number 1, Novak Djokovic has started US Open on a positive node. He won the first set without playing his best game. Yes! You heard that right. With the win, the Serbian star has now moved to the second round of the US Open to hunt another grand slam of the year and to add it to his quest of 20 grand slams.
Djokovic has moved to the second round of the US Open without giving his best performance. Yes, this might surprise so let heard this from Novak himself. He said in a post-game conference that it wasn’t his best performance. He added that the opponent played better in the second set. He also said that he didn’t deserve to win the second set but eventually he won. Significantly, the 34-year-old Serbian star dominated much of the way in beating 18-year-old Danish qualifier Holger Rune 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-1 after two hours and 15 minutes in the night feature here at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Novak is on the verge of creating history. If he ends up winning the US Open, his total grand slams will become 21 which is the most by any. In the next round, Djokovic will play with 121st-ranked Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor. Tallon has come in this tournament without much experience and records. The top seed Novak admitted that he doesn’t know much about his opponent.
Currently, Novak Shares the record of most grand slams with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Surprisingly both top players are absent in US Open due to injuries. The defendant champion of the US Open, Dominic Thiem is not part of the grand slam as well. This grand slam win can be a cakewalk for Djokovic.
Djokovic won the first set in 26 minutes facing World ranked 145th, Rune without facing a breakpoint, fell behind 3-0 to start the second before battling into the tie-breaker, where Rune grabbed leads of 4-0 and 6-3. After two Djokovic service winners, he sent a backhand service return long to drop the set.
In the third set, Djokovic broke to lead 3-1 and Rune began getting treatments between games, grimacing at times and struggling to run for shots to the end.
Djokovic shared that he found Rune nervous during the third set. He was struggling to move his legs. Novak said he could feel him (Rune) at that time. The only component that can come in Djokovic’s way of creating history is Tokyo Olympic gold medal winner, Alexander Zverev. Zverev has beat the Serbian star in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.