[ad_1]
Two down, five to go.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd started to warm up a little more to Novak Djokovic on Thursday night, giving him a warm round of applause as he served for match point. The Serbian took out overmatched Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in a tidy three-set breeze, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the U.S. Open.
Djokovic’s opponent didn’t give the crowd much to cheer about, though they got very loud when Griekspoor broke Djokovic in the middle of the second set. The throng tried to rally the underdog in the third when the Dutchman got up love-40 on Djokovic’s serve, looking to go up a break. But the Serbian reeled off eight straight points, ending any drama.
“I came out with the right intensity — definitely better performance than a couple of nights ago,’’ said Djokovic, whose serve was untouchable. “Great performance. I’m very pleased with my level of tennis.’’
Djokovic made the reference to his four-set struggle in the first round against 18-year old qualifier Holger Rune of Denmark. Rune had the Ashe crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, as they sang his name “Ruuuune’’ across the match.
But on Thursday, there was mostly appreciation for Djokovic’s methodical greatness as he moves toward the first Grand Slam (all four major titles in one year) since Rod Laver in 1969 and surpassing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most majors. The threesome are tied with 20 titles each.
After defeating Griekspoor, Djokovic swatted the ball into the upper deck. He then turned to all sides of the court giving his trademark loving two-hand gesture as the crowd cheered. He later called New York the world’s “most fun’’ city.
But the easier part is done with, and now it gets tougher. In the third round awaits former U.S. Open champion Kei Nishikori, who advanced by ousting UCLA product Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-3.
Djokovic’s record against Nishikori is a solid 16-2, but the Japanese star beat the Serbian in the U.S. Open semifinals in 2014. He’s no Griekspoor.
Asked if he has Nishikori’s number, Djokovic quipped, “I actually do, in my phone.”
“I don’t have anyone’s number on the court until I win,” Djokovic continued. “We played many times. I have very good score against him. Historically I think his most successful Grand Slam is here. He’s one of the quickest and most-talented players that I’ve seen in my lifetime.’’
It wasn’t all fun and games dealing with the crowd for Djokovic, who was bothered by a heckler and complained to the chair umpire as he started the third set.
At the changeover, Djokovic got angrier, telling him: “Are you going to do something or not going to do something? He’s doing it during the point, just before I hit the ball, right before I hit that smash.’’
Afterward, Djokovic said he loves the crowd noise, but not that sort of fan disturbance.
“When tennis players talk about that, someone who is watching team sports would say, ‘What a spoiled brat,’ ” Djokovic said. “Even sometimes during the point it happens that people out of excitement, they just scream and that’s fine. But if someone intentionally does it over and over again, then I have tolerance up to a certain point. Then it’s not fine. It’s not fair. … The guy that I pointed out, he knew exactly what he was doing.’’
Djokovic is five wins from achieving what no male player has done in 52 years, winning all four majors in one year. Federer and Nadal never got to the point of winning the first three, but Djokovic is reluctant to get into any GOAT talk. Not yet.
“ I think the rivalry between the big three, it’s phenomenal for our sport,’’ Djokovic said. “So the more traction, conversation there is around the three of us, the GOAT discussion, the better. I hope people still keep on talking about it.’’
[ad_2]
Leave a Reply