Novak Djokovic took another step toward a record 25th grand slam singles title and a rare US Open repeat when fellow Serb Laslo Djere retired with an injury during the third set of their second-round encounter on Wednesday night beneath the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Three days short of a year after fighting back from two sets down against the same opponent at the same stage in the same venue, the second-seed Djokovic saw to it that lightning did not strike twice, even as a sudden thunderstorm suspended play across the grounds and created sweat-box conditions inside the main show court.
Wearing a sleeve over his surgically repaired right knee, the world No 2 led 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 when Djere signalled he could no longer continue, a welcome tap out from an opponent who had pushed him the distance in their previous two meetings.
The day three nightcap unfolded at a deliberate pace as both men traded holds until Djokovic raised his level in the 12th game to break at love and take the first set after an hour. When the dogged Djere broke early in the second, the crowd sensed they could be in for another long night.
But the physicality of the rallies soon took their toll on the 29-year-old, who appeared to hurt his lower abdomen while leading 4-2 and threatening to extend his lead. Djokovic broke and then again when his opponent missed badly with a forehand on set point. Broken at love again early in the third after a medical timeout and in visible agony, Djere dolefully flew the white flag after 2hr 16min.
“It’s not what we want,” Djokovic said. “It’s not what the crowd wants, to see a walkover. But he had an injury that took him out of the tour for some time and he is struggling to come back physically to this level.
“He’s such a good player, especially in these conditions. It should’ve been his second set, honestly. It was 4-2, 15-40. Overall, it was a big fight. Over two hours for two sets.
“I served awful. Playing without the serve, you have to grind, you have to run. I had to rely on my baseline game.”
Not only is the 37-year-old seeking to go clear of Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 major championships, but he can become the first man to successfully defend the US Open crown since Roger Federer won the last of five straight titles in 2008.
Next up for Djokovic is a Friday date with the 28 seed, Alexei Popyrin, of Australia, who strolled past Spain’s Pedro Martínez in straight sets earlier Wednesday.
Djokovic has now reached the third round or better in each of his 18 career appearances at Flushing Meadows. By winning his 90th match at the US Open, he became the first man in history to have recorded 90 or more victories at each of the four major tournaments.
In the first match of the evening session on Ashe, Coco Gauff, the No 3 seed, overcame even muggier conditions beneath an open roof, a serve in total rebellion and one of the tour’s more nettlesome players to reach the third round with a 6-4, 6-0 win over 99th-ranked Tatjana Maria.
Gauff’s defense of her US Open title remained on course despite a first set where she was clearly troubled by the unconventional pace of Maria, the 37-year-old mother of two from Germany who entered the tournament on a streak of eight straight defeats in tour-level matches.
Maria’s form has fallen off since her surprise run to the Wimbledon semi-finals two years ago, but her slice-dependent style can make her one of the more vexing opponents, particularly for a player like Gauff who thrives off pace.
After breaking Maria at love to start the match, the American managed to get 47% of her first serves in during the opening set while making seven double faults, which accounted for more than a third of her 20 unforced errors. She also faced five break points, saving four of them.
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But Gauff steadied herself, made the correct adjustments and bullied her veteran foe throughout the second set, pounding three times as many winners (15) as unforced errors, including seven off her traditionally weaker forehand side. When she crushed a sharply angled backhand on match point to settle the longest rally of the night, the 20-year-old was through to the third round after 1hr 20min.
“She’s not someone that you play and you feel great after,” Gauff said. “I love Tatjana, her family, [but] she’s very annoying to play. Tonight was just an annoying match. The balls, you were able to hit winners on them, but because she’s slicing it, you have to generate all the power.
“Sometimes it can be more physically tiring than it looks because you have to generate 100% of the power every single time compared to maybe somebody where you can just redirect and do that.
“It was difficult, to say the least, but that’s just that type of match that you just have to get through.”
Gauff’s Olympics did not go nearly as well as Djokovic’s – the American crashed out of the singles, doubles and mixed after the emotional high of sharing flag-bearing duties with LeBron James at the opening ceremony – but she goes forth in Queens having won 22 of her past 25 singles matches at grand slam tournaments dating back to the start of last year’s US Open.
She will need to serve better to come through a third-round showdown with 27th-seeded Elina Svitolina, the former world No 3 and three-time major semi-finalist who won 6-1, 6-2 over unseeded Anhelina Kalinina.
“She’s a good all-court player,” Gauff said of Svitolina. “She can do pretty much everything. She’s really solid from the back. When I played her in Auckland, we had a lot of physical points.
“The challenge will be just finding the balance between being aggressive and not letting her dictate, but also not making too many errors. She’s a tough opponent, and regardless of whatever form she’s in, she’s always going to be tough to beat.”
Taylor Fritz breezed past Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-1 to book a third-round meeting with Argentina’s Francisco Comesana, while the two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka won 6-1, 6-4 over France’s Clara Burel.
