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Djokovic Survives Djere At US Open
10 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
T’was another late night of work for Novak Djokovic and he survived a near shock upset by overcoming Laslo Djere 46 46 61 61 63. The third round clash of Serbians took three hours and forty five minutes to complete on Ashe Stadium.
This is the eighth time Djokovic has escaped a two set to love deficit, most recently it happened at 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinals vs Jannik Sinner. Djokovic, of course, proceeded to win the 2022 Wimbledon title.
“I would say two different matches, the first two [sets] and then the last three,” Djokovic said after the 1:32 a.m. finish. “The scoreline doesn’t do it justice.”
“I honestly have never seen him play like this,” Djokovic said of the 28 year old Djere, who he defeated earlier this year in Belgrade R16 on clay 26 76 76. “He was feeling the ball extremely well. Everything was kind of in his striking zone. He was tactically prepared very well. He started the match very, very good. He was far more comfortable than me. I was defending mostly in the first two sets.”
The ATP no. 38 and winner of two ATP singles titles, who uses a Wilson Blade 98 racquet, was not intimidated by the task at hand of facing Djokovic. Djere held serve in all ten of his service games in the first two sets, striking at an astounding 87 percent for his first serves in the second set. In a stunning second set display Djere, won 18 of 20 first serve points vs the greatest returner in ATP history.
Djokovic found his natural rhythm and an extra intensity level in the third set though and managed to win 17 of 22 games. Djere earned himself a break point at 3-5 in the third but was thwarted. Djokovic finished the duel five points later on his second match point when Djere missed a backhand up the line wide by a few inches.
“It’s one of the toughest matches I’ve played here in many years,” Djokovic said.
“I think the message is sent to the rest of the field, obviously, that I’m still able to play five sets deep at night. And coming from two sets down always sends a strong message to future opponents.”
The last time Djokovic lost in the first week of a Grand Slam was in 2017 at Australian Open to Denis Istomin in the second round, a five set match.
Next up in the fourth round for Djokovic awaits Borna Gojo, who defeated Jiri Vesely. Vesely holds a 2-0 career head to head record vs Djokovic.
Other notable results:
Taylor Fritz beat just turned 18 year old Jakub Mensik on his birthday 61 62 60.
Coco Gauff beat Elise Mertens 36 63 60.
Tommy Paul won vs Fokina 60 61 36 63 to set up a fourth round clash vs Frances Tiafoe, a four set winner vs Mannarino.
Gojo beat Vesely 64 63 62.
Ben Shelton defeated Aslan Karatsev in four sets.
Laslo Djere · Novak Djokovic · US Open
Sam · September 2, 2023 at 7:39 pm
You gotta wonder—exactly how much was Djere offered to try to take out Djokovic? 💰 😉
Scoop Malinowski · September 2, 2023 at 7:57 pm
Sam, certainly seems there is a deep state vendetta pagainst Djokovic and they incentivize or bonus players to beat Novak in majors, like a bounty – remember how Busta, Stan, Delpo, strangely played some of their very best career tennis vs Novak. Now Djere, Querrey, Istomin, Vesely too. With how they tried to character assassinate Novak over the flu virus, I put nothing past the tennis deep state.
Sam · September 5, 2023 at 4:39 pm
Yeah, Scoop, ain’t no way all those “peak performances” were just a coincidence. 🥸
Scoop Malinowski · September 5, 2023 at 6:07 pm
My guess is vendetta or bonus Sam, it’s happened too many times. But it made Novak tougher and greater, he’s overcome more than any other player in history.
Sam · September 9, 2023 at 3:54 pm
Well, hopefully whatever “bonus” they offer Medvedev for tomorrow won’t be enough and Djokovic will get his revenge. 😏
Scoop Malinowski · September 9, 2023 at 7:42 pm
Sam, it will be an incredible final, Med at his best can be too much for Novak as we saw two years ago. Let’s see if he can solve the Med on Ashe in US Open puzzle. Slight edge to Novak for me but he will need to earn it with his A plus game.
Sam · September 11, 2023 at 9:13 pm
Problem solved. 😎
Scoop Malinowski · September 12, 2023 at 8:44 am
Solved in stunning fashion too, might have been Djokovic’s finest all around all court performance. I’ve never seen him volley that effectively. Medvedev’s performance was sensational also, he followed up the Carlos masterpiece with another. But Novak is far and away from Carlos right now. There have been a lot of sensational losing efforts in Grand Slam finals, some even in 3 sets losses. Easy to forget those… Tsitsipas, Coria, Pioline,
Sam · September 14, 2023 at 8:32 am
There have been a lot of sensational losing efforts in Grand Slam finals, some even in 3 sets losses. Easy to forget those… Tsitsipas, Coria, Pioline
True. That’s why I think it’s a mistake to merely count Grand Slam titles—and nothing else—when evaluating a player’s whole career. 😐
Scoop Malinowski · September 14, 2023 at 12:33 pm
Fully agree on that. Many incredible players never won a Grand Slam, not even in doubles or mixed.