Novak Djokovic beats Joao Sousa to reach quarterfinals

As Djokovic moves on, Sharapova meets match for first time in a while

NEW YORK — Perhaps it comes as a surprise to men’s tennis followers that Novak Djokovic has cut to the front of the line in his duels with the sport’s two most celebrated players. He has a winning record, head-to-head, against both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Nadal is the current world No. 1, Federer is No. 2, but Djokovic entered this year’s U.S. Open as the slight betting favorite, which is not the same as being the fan favorite. For Djokovic’s afternoon 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa on Monday, sending Djokovic into the Open quarterfinals, Arthur Ashe Stadium was far from full — unlike the scene at the two most recent Nadal and Federer afternoon matches.

Djokovic understands. “I mean, I just feel these guys have been role models and examples on and off the court. For me, as well,” Djokovic said.

Essentially, Nadal is the heartthrob in the public’s mind. Federer is the really cool guy. Djokovic? A terrific tennis player; he has proved to be on the NadalFederer level. Yet there still doesn’t appear to be quite the same room for him in the fans’ hearts.

Back in form after February wrist surgery to win his 13th Grand Slam event at Wimbledon in July, Djokovic is closing in on Federer, who has a record 20 major titles, and Nadal, with 17. More to the point, Djokovic has a 27-25 career record against Nadal and a 24-22 mark against Federer.

Also, he is the youngest of the trio — 31 — while Nadal is 32 and Federer 37. Time is on his side.

“At the beginning of my career,” Djokovic said, “I probably wasn’t seeing things that I’m seeing now, in terms of being in an era with these guys. Now I’m grateful that I was, that I still am, in the era with these guys, that I get a chance to witness their greatness as well, their rivalry — Nadal and Federer — which is the biggest rivalry, one of the biggest of all time.

“And, at the same time to be competing against them on such a big stage every year for a long time.”

Against Sousa, the No. 29 seed on

Monday, and playing in the Ashe Stadium oven on another hot, humid day, Djokovic again demonstrated how a superior player is at his best at the most opportune moments — just when the other fellow is losing his grip.

Sousa was serving at 3-5 in the first set when Djokovic pressured him into two errors and a double fault to win the set. Sousa was serving at 4-5 in the second when Djokovic forced him into four consecutive forehand errors to win that set. The two were on serve at 4-3 in the third when Djokovic’s passing shot brought him to break point, which he converted with an overhead to 5-3. And he immediately served out the match.

With Federer likely to play Djokovic on Wednesday,

Sousa said, “Of course, I’m going to enjoy in the sofa of my house.”

Maria Sharapova’s perfect US Open night match win streak ends at 23 in loss to Carla Suarez Navarro

NEW YORK — Maria Sharapova’s exit from the U.S. Open was rather ungraceful on Monday night.

Her 6-4, 6-3 loss to Carla Suarez Navarro at Ashe Stadium was error filled and ended her perfect night match record in the U.S. Open at 23 straight.

But she handled the loss with typical grace and vowed to keep chugging along at age 31 to extend what has been a superb career, interrupted by a 15-month doping suspension that expired in the spring of 2017.

“If I didn’t have the belief to keep doing this and to keep having the motivation and

the grind of doing this every day in order to get myself in these positions, I don’t think I would be here,” Sharapova said. “I think I’ve done plenty in my career, established a lot for myself personally, professionally.

“The belief is not something that I’m eager to show everybody else. The belief matters most when it’s internal and when you have a passion for something. If you don’t, it’s your choice to not continue that, not for anyone else to tell you so.”

The match against Suarez Navarro, which put her into the quarterfinals, was riddled with errors and very poor serving from Sharapova. She made 38 errors over the two sets and her serve was broken six times. She double faulted eight times.

Suarez Navarro wasn’t all that convincing herself, but she finished off the match with a classic one-handed

backhand winner.

“I thought she played a great match,” Sharapova said. “She did many things well. She was consistent when she had to be. She forced me to make mistakes.”

Asked as if this was a challenging point in her career, Sharapova, who has won $38 million in her career with 36 tournament victories, including five Grand Slam titles, responded:

“What’s challenging is when you’re a teenager and you have a few hundred dollars and you’ve got no sense of the future, you don’t know where you’re going to end up,” said Sharapova, who was just that after her father brought her to the United States from Russia. “You just have a dream. I think that’s a lot tougher than being 31 years old and having the opportunity to do whatever I want in my life.”