BREAKING: Novak Djokovic delivers ‘terrible’ verdict on aspect of his game as he overcomes the US Open injury scare
Novak Djokovic called his serving performance in his second-round triumph over Laslo Djere at the 2024 US Open “awful,” and he also got treatment for a physical ailment during the match.
The Serbian said that he did not serve well in either of his first two matches in New York, but he is certain that he will rediscover his groove as he has “many times” throughout his career.
Djokovic was leading Djere 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 at Arthur Ashe Stadium when the world’s No. 109 retired owing to injury.
The 37-year-old landed only 47% of his first serves in a tough, late-night match against his fellow Serb, with the first two sets lasting more than two hours.
The 24-time major champion won a more than healthy 79% of the points when he made his first serve, but he only won 49% of the points on his second serve and struck eight double faults.
In his post-match interview with Nick Kyrgios, Djokovic was open about how horribly he served.
“I served awful,” he admits. “Playing without a serve requires you to grind and run. Not everyone serves like Kyrgios. “I guess I’ll have to rely on my baseline game.”
In his straight-set victory over Radu Albot, Djokovic only struck 47% of his first serves and committed 10 double faults.
In his press conference following his second round win, Djokovic addressed his serve issues and underlined how they may lead to matches becoming much more of a grind.
“I haven’t been really serving well first two matches here, so I’m still kind of trying to find that rhythm and tempo on the serve,” the second-ranked player explained.
“If you don’t get a good proportion of first serves in, you have to work for your points, especially against a player like Djere, who is really good from the baseline on both ends, forehand and backhand, and is simply a really solid player. He enjoys attacking, but he is also comfortable defending, and we had a five-setter last year.
“So I knew going into the match that if I didn’t serve well, which I didn’t, I’d have to really grind and struggle for my points a lot, and that’s probably why the two sets took over two hours.
“(On Djere’s retirement) In the end, it wasn’t the finish that we players or the spectators wanted to see, but I believe it was due to the physical war that we had in the first two sets.
“All in all, I think I have to be happy with the win and happy that in important moments, I managed to play one ball more than him over the net, I guess find the right shots or anticipate well, as I did on the set point in the second set — was lucky that he missed that forehand, which was quite easy.
“But that’s tennis; when you’re fighting and playing long rallies, the pressure builds, and you have to play shots that you wouldn’t ordinarily miss nine times out of ten, and you do.
“The matchups will only get tougher from here, I know. But you know, I am fine. I’ll find my way, like I’ve done numerous times during my career.”
Against Djere, Djokovic appeared to be in pain as he got stomach treatment between the first and second sets.
The tennis legend came into the competition with injury worries after cutting short a practice session with Holger Rune due to physical troubles.
“On Friday, I practised for an hour on the outside courts [with Rune], but then I had some problems, so I didn’t practice any more at Arthur Ashe,” he told Serbian media ahead of his opening round encounter.
“Today (Saturday), it wasn’t a big deal, so I practiced with [Stan] Wawrinka on the outside court and on Ashe, where we get an hour every day. So far, everything is fine; nothing serious in the larger context.”
Djokovic will face world No. 28 Alexei Popyrin, winner of the Montreal Masters, in the third round at Flushing Meadows.
