Novak Djokovic rolls past Sam Querrey at U.S. Open
NEW YORK – In the aftermath of a second Wimbledon title, a return to No. 1, a larger-than-life wedding and impending fatherhood, Novak Djokovic arrived at the U.S. Open with little mental bandwidth.
His game showed it, too. The top-ranked Serb made early exits in the two lead-up Masters events, going 2-2 on his favored hardcourts this summer at Toronto and Cincinnati.
But the elastic Djokovic is nothing if not resilient, and he appears locked in so far in New York.
On Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he cruised to another impressive victory, beating 57th-ranked Sam Querrey of the USA 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 85 minutes to reach the fourth round for the eighth consecutive year.
"It's peaking at the right time, at the right tournament," said Djokovic of his form.
Through three rounds, Djokovic has dropped just 18 games without losing a set, an average of six per match.
The 27-year-old Serb has had better starts to reach the U.S. Open's round-of-16, but not many.
He dropped 14 games in 2012 and 12 games in 2011 when he won his only championship. But that low total three years ago included a first-round retirement against Conor Niland of Ireland while leading 6-0, 5-1.
Djokovic, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, acknowledged Saturday that he didn't realize how "emotionally drained" he was after going the distance against Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final and four days later wedding his longtime fiancé until France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stomped him 6-2, 6-2 in his second match at Toronto.
"I was physically ready but obviously emotionally I was still not out there," he said.
He also bowed out in his second match at Cincinnati, which Djokovic called a silver lining as it allowed him to recharge his mind and prepare more for the U.S. Open – "the upside" of losing early, he said.
That mental reset has been particularly evident in his return game.
In New York, Djokovic has broken opponents 21 times in three matches, a 58% clip. That compares favorably to his 36% rate in his four matches on hardcourts since Wimbledon.
Or maybe it's the ball.
According to ESPN analyst Darren Cahill, the Wilson ball used at the U.S. Open stays on the strings a fraction longer than the ball used at the Masters events. That one is the Penn ATP ball.
The added milliseconds allow Djokovic to finish his swings and control the ball better.
"If you watched him play in Canada and Cincinnati, it just felt like he was just check-swinging, mostly off the backhand, because the ball was flying and he didn't quite have control of where it was going," said Cahill. "You saw a lot of errors."
Whatever the exact reason, Querrey, who fell behind early in each set on Saturday, said he could find no space on the court. Returns came bounding back. Serves were precise. As usual, Djokovic made few mistakes.
"You just kind of feel so much pressure," said Querrey. "You're kind of overwhelmed."
Djokovic, sounding confident, said there wasn't one thing that felt better.
"Just more solid in every shot, I believe," he said.