A naked ice bath saves Novak’s day

Novak Djokovic has had a long career, but notched up a first last night when he took a bath midmatch, naked, next door to his opponent.

it happened when the 31-year-old Serb, many people’s favourite for the US open, took advantage of a 10-minute break offered to the players after the third set of a contest he was lucky to escape from.

Similar heat and humidity is expected to greet andy Murray and cameron Norrie when they play their second- round games this afternoon at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic had looked in serious physical discomfort and was 4-2 down in the third set before eventually recovering to beat Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

at one point he asked for a bin to be placed near his chair in case he needed to be sick and then came the break due to a newly-instituted heat rule. ‘it’s funny but Marton and i were in ice baths next to each other,’ he said.

‘it was a wonderful feeling to battle with a guy for two-and-a-half hours and the match isn’t over and you’re sitting naked.’

Murray will today try and restore the old order of being the last British player standing at a Grand Slam when he tackles the No 31 seed, Fernando verdasco of Spain. He will be back on the main arthur ashe for the first time in two years, the scene of arguably his finest hour when he won the title in 2012.

verdasco will provide another level of challenge to the scrappy james Duckworth and the match should be a decent bellwether for where Murray is in his long comeback. The old version of the Scot has a crushing 13-1 record over the southpaw from Madrid.

‘it’s going to be the same as any other time, i don’t think it changes much that he was injured,’ insisted verdasco about an opponent who hammered him 6-3, 6-2 when they last met, 18 months ago.

‘i will try and move him around as much as i can but that’s the same in every match. i know how i have to do it.’

Norrie faces world No 62 Dusan Lajovic of Serbia as he tries to maintain his upward career trajectory and reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Yesterday’s brutal heat led to one of the more curious code violations of recent times.

France’s alize cornet left her court to change her shirt, putting it on back to front.

Upon realising this mistake she took it off and put it back on in full public view, thereby incurring the umpire’s displeasure.