(New York) A quick small victory in the first round on Monday and Novak Djokovic, deprived of United States Open last year for lack of anti-COVID-19 vaccination, has already made sure to become world No.1 again at the outcome of the tournament.
The 36-year-old Serb did not participate in the 2022 edition won by Carlos Alcaraz, so he only needed to progress to the second round this year to climb to the top of the hierarchy ahead of the Spaniard.
It’s done with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory in 1h35 over Frenchman Alexandre Müller (84e). The punishment even seemed to have to be much more severe since “the Djoker” won the first eight games in a short half an hour (to lead 6-0, 2-0) and that Müller did not seem really able to stop the hemorrhage.
“I started the match terribly well from the first exchanges”, welcomed the Serb.
“I knew I might play late, but I was still looking forward to getting on the court, because it had been two years since I had played here”, on the huge Arthur-Ashe court, a- he recalled after the match which ended after half past midnight.
Titled three times at Flushing Meadows where he is also looking for a 24e Grand Slam title to equal Margaret Court’s absolute record, Djokovic will face in the next round the Spaniard Bernabe Zapata (76e).
