At the age of 38, Novak Djokovic defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in a dominant 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 match despite having lost on his daughter’s birthday.
“Yes, she was disappointed that I was unable to attend the birthday party.” Please don’t remind me of that, Djokovic, who became the oldest man to reach all four Grand Slam quarterfinals in a single season, on Sunday.
Djokovic’s record-extending victory kept his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th major title alive, and it also led to his entry into his 64th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
However, the Serbian’s focus was on family issues when he discussed the sacrifices that were necessary at this point in his career.
“If I’m here, I’ll try to win.” At least I’m going to try to win and give her that kind of present,” Djokovic said.
For her birthday party, I’m going to send some lovely presents as well as some lovely surprises.
Djokovic is the dominant player.
During the 109-minute contest at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the experience over power was unmatched.
Djokovic, a 35-year-old German, broke the German’s serve six times in the fourth round, asserting control of the fourth-round match from the opening contest. His own serve proved crucial in the face of a player who had the tournament’s second-highest ace count of 66 at the start of the contest.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion completely neutralized Struff’s biggest weapon by firing 12 aces while winning 79 percent of first-serve points.
“Serving well is undoubtedly helpful. Djokovic said, “I think I had a great serving performance tonight as well as in the final round.”
“I just saw the statistics, and I outstripped one of the guys this year who had the most aces,” I thought. That, of course, makes my life easier on the court.
In order to advance to his first US Open fourth round, Struff, who is ranked 144th overall, defeated two seeded players, Frances Tiafoe (17th), Holger Rune (11th), and Frances Tiafoe (17th), but he was unable to put any real pressure on the seventh seed.
The German made only 19 winners and committed 32 unforced errors.
This US Open men’s singles match in the fourth round or later in the professional era was the oldest due to their combined 73 years and 60 days.
Djokovic, who is currently 36-0 against Grand Slam qualifiers, had to have his right shoulder and forearm treated by a physio during the match, but he did not appear to be overly constrained by the issues.
Djokovic said he was not looking beyond Taylor Fritz, who finished second in the 2024 US Open, when he was preparing for a potential semifinal against world number two Carlos Alcaraz.
One thing I’ve learned over the past few years is to take really one match at a time, he said.
Source: Aljazeera
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