Djokovic Slam dream on track
World
No.1 Novak Djokovic moved five matches from completing the first men’s singles calendar-year Grand Slam in 52 years by advancing to the third round of the US Open on Friday.
The 34-year-old Serbian cruised past 121st-ranked Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to book a third-round date with 2014 US Open runnerup Kei Nishikori of Japan.
A fourth US Open crown would bring Djokovic his
21st career Grand Slam crown, giving him the men’s all-time record, one more than the mark he now shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both absent with injuries.
Griekspoor broke in the seventh game of the second set to pull within 4-3 when Djokovic sent a backhand long, but the number one broke back and held, taking the set on his 10th ace on his way to a
99-minute victory. Nishikori made himself an obstacle in Djokovic’s path to history by outlasting American Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-7
(5/7), 2-6, 6-3, avenging a loss in last month’s Washington semifinals.
Djokovic has a 17-2 career record against Nishikori, who last beat the Serbian star in the
2014 US Open semifinals.
Since then, Djokovic has won 16 in a row, most recently in the Tokyo Olympic quarter-finals
Attendance was off as New York struggled to recover from a deadly storm and flash flooding. Remnants of Hurricane Ida struck on Wednesday night and killed at least 41 people, triggering a rare state of emergency for the city, flooding subways and turning roads into rivers. High water that flooded US Open plazas had drained away and windscattered furniture was replaced for Thursday. With abandoned cars scattered across streets near the National Tennis Center and many highways shut down, fewer spectators than normal saw Tokyo Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and Ashleigh Barty roll into the third round.
Australian Barty dispatch Dane Clara Tauson
6-1, 7-5 and German fourth seed Zverev rip Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 61, 6-0, 6-3.
German Oscar Otte, ranked 144th, became the fifth men’s qualifier to reach the third round by defeating American Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. There haven’t been so many qualifiers so deep at any Slam since six at the 2011 French Open and not at the US Open since five made it in 1984. —