US Open: Djokovic physically tested by Tien, but prevails in straight-sets
Novak Djokovic defeated Learner Tien 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Sunday night and will play American qualifier Zachary Svajda in the next round
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Serb Novak Djokovic, the No 7 seed, advanced to the second round of the US Open by winning against American Learner Tien 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Sunday night.
In doing so, Djokovic collected a 75th-consecutive first-round victory at the Grand Slams.
“It was a strange kind of match,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion stated.
“The first set was 20 minutes and then the second one was one hour and 20, so quite the opposite sets we played. It was key for me to hold my nerves in the second set and clinch it in a tie-break.
“After that I started feeling better. I can always do better but it’s a great way to start this year’s campaign.”
it’s a great way to start this year’s campaign
Despite the straight-set result, Djokovic often looked winded after just over 60 minutes of play – hunched over between points.
However, the Serb was quick to shut down any injury concerns:
“Well, I started great. Then some long games in the second set, I started to feel really… I was really surprised how bad I was feeling in the second physically.
“Good thing is that I have two days off. It’s slightly a concern. I don’t have an injury or anything. I just struggled to stay in long exchanges and recover after points.”
Djokovic, ranked No 7, will face American qualifier Zachary Svajda next.
New York (Grand Slam), other first-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 90.000.000, most recent results first):
- Alexander Zverev vs. Alejandro Tabilo
- Elmer Moller vs. Tommy Paul
- Christopher O’Connell vs. Alex De Minaur
- Gael Monfils vs. Roman Safiullin
- Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Jacob Fearnley
- Nuno Borges vs. Brandon Holt
- Daniel Altmaier vs. Hamad Medjedovic
- Hugo Gaston vs. Shintaro Mochizuki
- Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Alexandre Muller
- Billy Harris vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
- Lorenzo Sonego vs. Tristan Schoolkate
- Leandro Riedi vs. Pedro Martinez Portero
- Valentin Royer vs. Yunchaokete Bu
- Jannik Sinner vs. Vit Kopriva
- Quentin Halys vs. David Goffin
- Alexander Bublik vs. Marin Cilic
- Alexei Popyrin vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
- Matteo Arnaldi vs. Francisco Cerundolo
- Lorenzo Musetti vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
- Marton Fucsovics vs. Denis Shapovalov
- Reilly Opelka vs. Carlos Alcaraz
- Sebastian Ofner vs. Casper Ruud
- Karen Khachanov vs. Nishesh Basavareddy
- Dino Prizmic vs. Andrey Rublev
- Gabriel Diallo vs. Damir Dzumhur
- Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Holger Rune
- Hugo Dellien vs. Kamil Majchrzak
- Jenson Brooksby vs. Aleksandar Vukic
- Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Mackenzie McDonald
- James Duckworth vs. Tristan Boyer
- Jaume Munar vs. Jaime Faria
- Francesco Passaro vs. Flavio Cobolli
- Mattia Bellucci vs. Juncheng Shang
- Daniel Elahi Galan vs. Raphael Collignon
- Frances Tiafoe vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
- Francisco Comesana vs. Alex Michelsen
- Joao Fonseca vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
- Federico Agustin Gomez vs. Jack Draper
- Sebastian Baez vs. Lloyd Harris
- Martin Damm vs. Darwin Blanch
- Cameron Norrie vs. Sebastian Korda
- Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. Chak Lam Coleman Wong
- Ugo Humbert vs. Adam Walton
- Zizou Bergs vs. Chun-Hsin Tseng
- Daniil Medvedev vs. Benjamin Bonzi: monday
- Brandon Nakashima vs. Jesper De Jong: sunday
- Mariano Navone vs. Marcos Giron: sunday
- Jordan Thompson beat Corentin Moutet: 6-2, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
- Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli: 6-3, 6-2, 6-0
- Pablo Carreno Busta beat Pablo Llamas Ruiz (Q): 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-2
- Jerome Kym (Q) beat Ethan Quinn: 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
- Zachary Svajda beat Zsombor Piros (Q): 6-4, 6-2, 7-5
- Tomas Machac (21) beat Luca Nardi: 6-3, 6-1, 6-1
- Adrian Mannarino beat Tallon Griekspoor (29): 7-5, 6-4, 6-0
- Jiri Lehecka (20) beat Borna Coric: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1
- Eliot Spizzirri (WC) beat Stefan Dostanic (WC): 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
- Luciano Darderi (32) beat Rinky Hijikata: 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
- Taylor Fritz (4) beat Emilio Nava (WC): 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
- Ugo Blanchet (Q) beat Fabian Marozsan: 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2
- Ben Shelton (6) beat Ignacio Buse (Q): 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (18) beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
- Arthur Rinderknech beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 7-6 (2), 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
- Jakub Mensik (16) beat Nicolas Jarry: 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4
