Novak Djokovic said he was surprised by the drop in his form midway through his opening match at the US Open on Sunday.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion started his bid at Flushing Meadows with a 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-3, win over Learner Tien. Despite the straightforward score, Djokovic struggled at times to maintain his consistency, especially during the second set, where he produced 20 unforced errors and only won 45% of points behind his second serve. He managed to regain his momentum in the third set by breaking Tien twice en route to victory.
“I started great. Just over 20 minutes, the first set, I felt really good. Then there were some long games to start the second set. I really was surprised how bad I was feeling in the second set physically,” said Djokovic.
“We had long exchanges but I also kind of dropped my level and made a lot of unforced errors. I’m glad that I reset myself after the second set. And the third one was — the third set was okay to finish up the match.”
Djokovic was playing his first match since losing in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last month after opting to take a longer break from the Tour instead of playing any warm-up events in North America. He is playing in his first hardcourt event since reaching the final of the Miami Masters in March.
“It’s slightly a concern. I don’t have any injuries or anything. I just struggled a lot to stay in long exchanges and recover after points,” he continued.
“It is what it is. But again, there was quite a bit of tension on the court, playing a young American, night session.
“For me, I haven’t played an official match for six weeks. I had to deliver my A-game, which I did in the first set. In the second, it was surviving on the court. But in the important moments, I just put one more ball in the court than he did.”
Besides his physical form, Djokovic was also troubled by a blister on the toe of his right foot, which required a medical timeout for treatment. Did this have any impact on his level of play?
“The blister bothered me for a bit but it wasn’t an issue,” he said.
“I’m not concerned about the blister. It’s more just an overall feeling of recovery after the points, long rallies weren’t that great.”
Djokovic is the first man in the Open Era to record 75 consecutive first round wins at Grand Slam events, with 55 of those wins being in straight sets. He will next take on American qualifier Zachary Svajda.
