Novak Djokovic had hoped to have the crowd behind him as he began his bid to win the US Open and complete the calendar-year Grand Slam, but the Serb said that the atmosphere was “not ideal” as Flushing Meadows fans cheered on his underdog opponent.
Djokovic, looking to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four Grand Slams in the same year, beat Holger Rune 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the second round after the 18-year-old Danish qualifier ran himself into the ground against the world No. 1.
Fans chanted “Rune” throughout and applauded the young Dane’s bravery as he played on, despite being hampered by a cramp.
Photo: AFP
After wrapping up the victory, Djokovic did not deliver his customary post-match celebration — sharing his heart with all four sides of the court — and he later said he thought that the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd had been booing him.
“I didn’t know what they were chanting honestly. I thought they were booing,” Djokovic said at a news conference. “I don’t know, it was not ideal atmosphere for me ... but I’ve been in these particular atmospheres before, so I knew how to handle it.”
“It’s the largest stadium in sport. Definitely the loudest and the most entertaining stadium we have in our sport... Obviously, you always wish to have the crowd behind you, but it’s not always possible,” Djokovic added. “That’s all I can say.”
A three-time US Open champion, Djokovic was playing his first match at Flushing Meadows since his disqualification from last year’s tournament, when he inadvertently hit a line judge with the tennis ball in his fourth round.
A fourth US Open trophy would take him ahead of his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam count, with the trio all on 20 titles.
“There are things that you can always rely on, go back to when you are experiencing a little bit of a turbulence in terms of emotions on the court or off the court,” Djokovic said. “When it gets too much, then I’ve developed a mechanism where I feel like I can mentally handle that.”
“I do have a formula for many years that has worked well for me, that got me to where I am,” he said. “At the same time, it’s not necessarily a guarantee that it will work every single time.”
TAIWAN
In women’s singles on Tuesday, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei eased passed Claire Liu of the US 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the second round.
Today, Hsieh faces Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, who beat the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-7 (7) in her opening match.
Yesterday, the duo of Hsieh and Germany’s Elise Mertens faced Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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