Tennis player Novak Djokovic secured his return to the top of the world rankings by beating Alexander Muller 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the US Open on Monday night.
The match started after 23:00 (04:00 this Tuesday in Lisbon), after the opening night ceremony, but Djokovic said in an interview after the match that “the night sessions here are always something special.” “.
“I think I started the first set very well,” said the Serb, who only needed 23 minutes to win the first set without losing a game against the 26-year-old Frenchman Müller, ranked 84th in the ATP.
After the match, which lasted an hour and 35 minutes, Djokovic admitted to some problems with his serve in the second and third sets, but was pleased that he played at a high level “from start to finish”.
In the next round, the Serbian will face Spaniard Bernabé Zapata, ranked 76th in the world ranking, who defeated the young American Ethan Quinn 6-4, 6-4 and 6-3 in two hours and 13 minutes.
“There are no easy opponents,” said Djokovic, who described Zapata as a specialist in clay-court tournaments but who was also capable of adapting to high-speed terrain.
The 36-year-old tennis player, who has already won 95 titles in his career, needed only one match in the United States to topple the 20-year-old Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, who is at the top of the world rankings.
In the next update of the ATP rankings, on September 11, Djokovic will lead the 390th week, thereby extending his own record.
After missing the 2022 tournament due to not being vaccinated against Covid-19, as happened this season at the Masters 1000 in Miami and Indian Wells, the Belgrade tennis player is participating in the North American Major for the 17th time, which he won three times . in nine contested finals.
Djokovic said it was “always a pleasure and an honor” for him to play in the US Open, adding that he was “very excited” to be back.
The Serbian has 23 Grand Slam titles, and in Flushing Meadows he will try to repeat the 24 trophies of the Australian Margaret Court.
This season, Djokovic won 38 games and lost only five, one of which was against Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, the penultimate Major of the season.
The two tennis players are tied 2-2 after Djokovic’s recent win in the Cincinnati Masters 1000 final, Alcaraz’s 12th tournament of the season.
Despite the defeat, the young Murcia native comes to New York, where he made his debut a year ago by winning a Grand Slam tournament, winning 53 games and losing six – the best result at the circuit this year – in addition to winning six titles, eight have been played in total. finals.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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