Djokovic was alarmed after the deceptive victory with abandon

Novak Djokovic arrived in New York with doubts. The Serbian faces the US Open with the question of whether his physical condition will allow him to be in the best condition to fight for the title.

Long-standing discomfort is a heavy burden when faced with a two-week tournament with five set matches, and any wrong move can end their career, as happened at Roland Garros.

Well, in the morning doubts were raised despite his victory over his compatriot Laslo Djere. Nole won 6-4, 6-4 and 2-0 before his compatriot retired due to an abdominal injury.

The first set of the night lasted more than an hour and went to the side of Djokovic, who scored the set with a providential break (6-4).

By then, the two Balkans were starring, under the intense heat of the New York night, A very tough, physical and tough match that soon took its toll on both sides of the net.

First it was Djokovic who sought medical help in changing the set. Soon, he showed obvious signs of frustration for his discomfort and for his tennis, especially with a serve that didn’t work for him.

Djere achieved a ‘break’ (1-2) but a few minutes later he hurt his stomach and immediately blamed it: he conceded a break and also lost the second set because the physiotherapist’s help failed to alleviate the problem that.

Clearly reduced, Djere tried to finish the match but at the start of the third set he had to give up.

“This is not what we want or what the people want… Seeing an easy victory. He had an injury that kept him away from the circuit for a while and he is struggling to get back to his physical level. He is a very good player. He should have taken the second set, honestly.“he told Nick Kyrgios in a courtside interview.

“He went up 4-2… I don’t know if the fact that I won the second set put a bigger mental burden on him. Overall, it was a great match. Over two hours for two sets. My service is terrible. When you play without a serve, you have to work hard and run. Not everyone serves like you. “I think I have to trust my baseline game,” he added.

The current champion of the ‘big’ New Yorker will face Australian Alexei Popyrin (n.28) in the next match.winner of the last Masters 1,000 in Montreal and defeated Pedro Martínez (43) in three sets in the second round.

Djokovic is seeking his 25th grand slam title in New York which would allow her to become the tennis player with the most crowns from a ‘great’, breaking the tie with Margaret Court’s 24.

He would also win his 100th title overall and become the oldest tennis player, at 37 years old, to win a grand slam in the ‘open era’.

The US Open draw is Djokovic opposite the Italian Jannik Sinner (n.1) and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (n.3), who will only be measured in the hypothetical final.