Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic has described his third round win over Richard Gasquet as his best performance at the US Open so far.
The sixth seed lost just eight games on route to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, win against the world No.25. Djokovic’s emphatic performance saw him save all five of the break points he faced. Hitting 31 winners to 25 unforced errors during the 133-minute encounter. He now has a 13-1 head-to-head record against Gasquet on the tour. Winning 11 consecutive matches against him.
“It was a great match from the beginning to the end,” Djokovic says during his on-court interview. “I thought I played really, really well, especially from the backhand corner. I was managing to step in and dictate the play from that area of the court.”
Despite the comprehensive victory, former top 10 player Gasquet also displayed glimmers of his talent with 25 winners. Although his undoing was his costly unforced error count of 47. Gasquet reached the semifinals of the US Open back in 2013.
“It was the best match of the week so far, without a doubt. One of the best performances I had in the hard court season after Wimbledon.” Declared Djokovic.
“I don’t think he (Gasquet) was playing bad. He was there. It seemed like he just needed a few points to break through. I was really lucky to save some crucial break points in the third set. If he got back that break, who knows. He was playing well.”
Djokovic’s triumph was a lot more straightforward than his two earlier matches at Flushing Meadows. Where he dropped a set against Marton Fucsovics and Tennys Sandgren before coming though. Despite admitting that he wasn’t pleased about those performances, the 31-year-old believes they have helped him focus more on his game.
“It makes me focus I guess more on certain aspects of my game that were not working as well as I wanted them to.” He explained during his press conference.
“That’s a good thing about Grand Slams, is you have a day in between, you can work on these kind of things. I spent an hour and a half on the court yesterday (Friday), really worked specifically on certain things and prepared for today’s (Saturday’s) match.
“I think my team and I have done a really good job.”
Djokovic remains on a collision course with Roger Federer, who he will meet in the quarter-finals should both men progress to that stage. Federer disposed of Nick Kyrgios during his third round match.
Prior to a potential Federer showdown, Djokovic will take on Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the last 16. Sousa, who has been ranked as high as 28th in the world, is set to play in his first grand slam fourth round at the age of 29. He knocked out 17th seed Lucas Pouille 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(5).
“He deserves a credit for reaching first time last 16 in a slam.” Djokovic said about his next opponent.
“He doesn’t have anything to lose. He’s a fighter. He grinds. He doesn’t give you too many free points. He makes you run. He loves to run. Loves to run around his backhand, hit some forehands. Plays pretty flat.”
Djokovic has won all four of his previous meetings against Sousa in straight sets.
