And then there was the elephant in the room: the glare of the spotlight that fell on Djokovic upon his arrival in New York, the pressure and expectations mounting on Djokovic with every step that brought him closer to the coveted prize. This was not just a major final: no one – not Federer, not Nadal, not Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Connors or Borg – had ever been in the same situation.
At Wimbledon in July, Djokovic bragged about spending a lot of time in the mountains, with wolves, which gave him “wolf energy.” He said it helped propel him to his third Grand Slam title of the year. But just when the stars were aligning, the Serbian star made a mess of his quest in Tokyo for his first Olympic singles gold medal. He was beaten by Alexander Zverev, after which Djokovic took almost a month off – was it to commune with the Carpathian wolves again? – before reappearing in New York.
The launch of Djokovic’s drive was a bad omen. He was the victim of mockery during his first round match against ATP newcomer Holger Rune. As the crowd chanted “Roon, Roon, Roon,” Djokovic thought they were booing him. When he realized they were shouting Rune’s name, he decided it was just disrespectful. After his victory, Djokovic told reporters: “Obviously you always want to have the crowd behind you, but that’s not always possible. That’s all I can say.
The theme of crowd support – or lack thereof – was firmly established from the start of the event.
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