Djokovic rises

We said after the victory of Novak Djokovic against the American Jenson Brooksby, that the US Open had not started yet for the Serb. He started this Wednesday, against his first real rival, Matteo Berrettini. World’s number one rose majestically with his best performance so far this tournament, despite the fact that he started it with a set against, which came back furious and lethal to win by 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3. Djokovic made a extraordinary match to the rest before a great server, capable of assiduously serving more than 205 km / h. Ahead of the line, the Belgrade man managed to return the cannon shots with depth and intention, with almost no time to react. For a reason, it is said that he is the greatest receiver in history. “They are the best three sets I have played in the tournament, for sure,” he said.

He is now two steps away from lifting his 21st Grand Slam trophy.. To do this, he will have to beat Alexander Zverev on Friday night shift (1:00, Eurosport), who beat him a few weeks ago at the Tokyo Olympics and arrives at the event in very good shape. Meanwhile, he prefers not to hear anything about it: “I’m just talking about the next game, don’t ask me about the story, I don’t want to think about it, I know it’s there, but let’s go step by step”he told Patrick McEnroe during the Arthur Ashe interview. The only downside that can be put to Djokovic’s career this year in New York is that in the first four games he played at idle he left three sets and spent more time on the court than he usually invests in the majors, 10 hours and 25 minutes, to which we must add the three and 26 that was at stake against Berrettini, mainly because that first heat he lost lasted 1:17. There are those who see it on the positive side, because it was short of preparation, but at 34 years of age, unnecessary excesses are not good. Zverev, his next opponent, accumulates 9:23 and has 24, ten less than the Balkan.

When it comes to his tennis, he has nothing to fear. At least if he maintains the one he showed against the Italian, who had a magnificent start before kneeling and losing head-to-head for the fourth time in as many clashes on all surfaces. There it is, intact, improved just when you need it. In some moments, his level was crazy, with the drive, with the backhand, in the race, stopped … Anyway, a show that gave him his 26th consecutive victory in Slams, with which he equaled his third best streak, the one he achieved between 2018 and 2019, and that goes after one of 30 between 2015 and 2016, and another of 27 between 2011 and 2012.

The battle with the stands

The other but for Nole is the public, which bothers him greatly. The behavior of a spectator again riled him up to the point that the drama of last year could be repeated, when he was disqualified in his duel against Pablo Carreño for hitting a linesman. This time, after losing a point with 2-1, 3-1 and 0-15, He cleared a ball that hadn’t gotten into Berrettini badly and miraculously missed a ball boy. Enraged, he closed the win as fast as he could. “Every game that I play in this amazing stadium is an additional lesson for me and a possibility for improvement.” Now he will need to do it a little more to get into the final and put himself in a position to enlarge his legend.

Results, table and schedules.