Novak Djokovic showed that he was still Serbia’s man to beat on Wednesday night as he beat countryman Laslo Djere in a walkover to move into the third round of the US Open.
Djere, who has been ranked as high as No. 27 in the world, took Djokovic to five sets in the third round of last year’s US Open and pushed Djokovic at times here – but he faded as he pulled out of the match through injury with Djokovic winning 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 in the third set.
The polarizing Djokovic received a booming ovation from the Queens crowd and stayed the course despite some brilliant moments from Djere.
For much of the two-hour, 16 minute match, there wasn’t much separating the Serbians as Djere was highly effective with his serve and out-winnered Djokovic 30-18 – with his whip of a forehand certainly helping in that department.
It wasn’t until the ninth game of the first set, with the score tied 4-4, that Djokovic finally got over the hump and broke his opponent.
As much as Djere tested Djokovic – and he did have some impressive moments with his whip of a forehand – the heat was also a factor for the 37-year-old Djokovic and his opponent.
There was a heat wave advisory in New York on Wednesday and while temperatures had mellowed by the time the match began around 9pm local time, it got muggy as the roof was closed (which Frances Tiafoe mentioned on Monday) with it thundering in the area.
Just five games into the match, as he led 3-2, Djokovic took his shirt off at the changeover and put what looked to be a cooling towel around his neck.
But Djokovic’s game slowly heated up as the outside temperatures fell.
More to follow
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