Novak Djokovic overcame a gradual begin to beat Zachary Svajda 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday, remaining unbeaten for his profession within the first two rounds of the U.S. Open.
Djokovic gave the impression to be laboring bodily early within the match, as he was at instances in his first-round victory. However after getting damaged to fall behind 3-1 within the third set, he lastly started wanting just like the participant who has received a males’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles, together with 4 of them in New York.
The No. 7-seeded Djokovic received the subsequent eight video games in opposition to the American qualifier to open a 3-0 lead within the fourth set and finally closed it out in simply 26 minutes after the primary set took an hour.
The 38-year-old Djokovic has reached the third spherical in all 19 appearances in New York.
DRAPER WITHDRAWS
Jack Draper, a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2024 and the No. 5 seed this yr, withdrew from the match Wednesday with an damage.
He was scheduled for a second-round match in opposition to Zizou Bergs, who superior to the third spherical by walkover.
Draper hadn’t performed since a second-round loss at Wimbledon and the left-hander mentioned earlier than singles play started on this match that he had been battling a painful bone bruise in his higher arm that bothered him when he hit serves or forehands.
The British participant then beat qualifier Federico Agustin Gomez of Argentina in 4 units in his first-round match on Monday, saying afterward that he wasn’t capable of serve together with his regular energy.
“I tried my very best to be here and give myself the every chance to play but the discomfort in my arm has become (too) much and I have to do what is right and look after myself,” Draper wrote on social media.
Draper had reached a minimum of the third spherical in all three earlier appearances on the U.S. Open. Final yr he turned the primary man since Daniil Medvedev in 2020 to succeed in the semifinals with out dropping a set earlier than shedding to eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
