Novak Djokovic pulled his character and anger to react after a bad start to the game against Kei Nishikori, whom he won again, and they have gone 17 times in a row (18-2 in the face to face), this time for 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 and 6-2 at 3:32. The Serbian, who still does not offer a total sense of dominance over his rivals, will be measured tomorrow in the round of 16 of the US Open with Jenson Brooksby, a 20-year-old American and 99th in the world, who surprised Russian Aslan Karatsev (6-2, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 and 6-3 in 3 :fifty). During the match against the Japanese, a finalist of the tournament in 2014, Nole gave a pair of house-brand screams in the third set and showed his best tennis in the fourth, with a tremendous point at the net.
At the beginning of Patrick McEnroe’s interview with him on the track, I hesitate to answer the question of whether he had felt the love of the public. “Thank you very much, I appreciate your, your … contribution to the game”, he said with a pause when choosing the noun. The fact is that he does not feel too comfortable in an Arthur Ashe who usually supports his rivals to the death, for that of supporting the weak so that the game is longer and more entertaining. But Djokovic does not suit him or that, and he will suffer even more against Brooksby, or spend three and a half hours on the court as on this occasion. In fact, he was self-critical. “I did not like my start, perhaps I was very passive, I could not dictate the game as I would like, nor was my rhythm well nor did I show the aggressiveness to impose myself as in the first two rounds. After the second set, I was more comfortable. in some moments I have not been at my best level, but the important thing was to win. “
Djokovic’s numbers were good in terms of attack (45 winners, 15 of them from direct service), but bad in terms of unforced errors (52), although in the network he shone (22/27) with that incredible elasticity that he has. Nishikori, who has regained some of his tennis, lacked consistency to do some more damage to a Novak who is still far from his best version, but he is after her.
Results, table and schedules.
