Heat takes toll as Djokovic wins in New York return
NEW YORK — His cheeks red, hair matted with sweat, Novak Djokovic appeared to be in so much distress as he trudged to a changeover on a steamy U.S. Open afternoon that someone suggested it would be a good idea to have a trash can at the ready, just in case he lost his lunch.
Djokovic sat down and removed his shirt. He guzzled water from a plastic bottle. He placed one cold towel around his neck, a second across his lap and a third between his bare upper back and the seat.
With the temperature topping 95 degrees and the humidity approaching 50 percent, it was a struggle for every player on Day 2 of the Open. Six quit their matches, with five citing cramps or heat exhaustion.
Djokovic was 1½ hours into his first match at Flushing Meadows in two years during that crossover, and though he eventually would get past Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 Tuesday, it was an ordeal. “Survival mode,” he called it. About two hours into the day’s schedule, the U.S. Tennis Association decided to do something it had not done at this tournament: offer men the chance to take a 10-minute break before the fourth set if a match went that far. That is similar to the existing rule for women, which allows for 10 minutes of rest before a third set when there is excessive heat. How bad was it Tuesday? “Bloody hot,” said two-time major semifinalist Johanna Konta, who lost 6-2, 6-2 to No. 6 Caroline Garcia.
“Brutal,” said 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who advanced when his opponent retired in the third set.
“Really not easy,” said threetime Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber, who beat Margarita Gasparyan 7-6 (5), 6-3.
“Terrible. It’s awful out there,” said Tennys Sandgren, an American who won in straight sets and will face Djokovic in the second round. “I don’t know how guys are hanging in there. I was thinking in the third set, like, ‘It’s getting really bad. I just don’t know how long I have to play out there.’ And I think everybody kind of feels similarly.” Djokovic certainly did. “Everything is boiling — in your body, the brain, everything,” he said, who sat out last year’s U.S. Open because of an injured right elbow.
He is a popular pick to hoist the trophy again, coming off a Wimbledon title in July and a victory over Roger Federer in the final of the hard-court Cincinnati Masters this month. Federer was among those lucky enough to play a night match Tuesday, beating Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Federer’s third-round opponent could be Nick Kyrgios, who had 25 aces and 14 doublefaults while defeating Radu Albot 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
In the last match on Ashe, 2017 runner-up Madison Keys advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 71st-ranked Pauline Parmentier. The final match of Day 2 was in Louis Armstrong Stadium, where Maria Sharapova edged 39-year-old qualifier Patty Schnyder 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Piedmont High alum McKenzie McDonald, in his U.S. Open debut, was unable to hold a two-set lead, falling to Robin Haase 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. McDonald, 23, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon before falling to Milos Raonic.