US Open: Novak Djokovic defeats fellow countryman Laslo Djere, while Coco Gauff also advances
Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff both breeze into the third round at Flushing Meadows
Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff made it into the third round of the US Open after they both came through their night matches on Wednesday.
Serbian star Djokovic was given a workover for the first couple of sets, with the 37-year-old even receiving an abdominal massage at one point, before his fellow countryman Laslo Djere retired early in the third set.
Djere was leading 4-2 in the second set when he appeared to be troubled by his hip, and despite every effort to continue he was forced to shake hands with Djokovic, who was leading 6-4 6-4 2-0.
The win enabled Djokovic to become the first tennis player, male or female, to record 90 or more career wins at all four Grand Slam events, and set up a meeting with Australian Alexei Popyrin on Friday.
“It’s not what we want. It’s not what the crowd wants, to see a walkover,” said Djokovic, during an on-court interview conducted by 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios. “But he obviously had an injury that took him out of the Tour for some time and he is struggling to come back physically to this level.
“He’s such a good player, especially in these conditions. It should’ve been his second set, honestly. It was 4-2, 15-40.
“Overall, it was a big fight. Over two hours for two sets. I served awful. So playing without the serve, you have to grind, you have to run. So I guess I had to rely on my baseline game.”
