Novak Djokovic is back at the U.S. Open and will now be back at No. 1 in the rankings.
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The 23-time Grand Slam champion had to wait through Coco
Gauff’s three-set victory to open the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium,
followed by an opening-night ceremony marking 50 years of equal prize money at
the U.S. Open.
“Well, I knew it was going to be a late night for me, late
start of the match,” Djokovic said. “Nevertheless, I mean, I was excited to go
out on the court. I didn’t care if I started after midnight because I was
looking forward to this moment for a few years, to be out on the biggest
stadium in our sport, the loudest stadium in our sport, playing the night
session.”
Djokovic was not allowed to travel to the U.S. last year
because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. Monday was his first match in
Flushing Meadows since falling to Daniil Medvedev in the 2021 final, a loss
that prevented the Serbian from completing the first calendar-year Grand Slam
in men’s tennis since 1969.
The No. 2 seed took the first set in just 23 minutes and won
the first eight games before Muller finally got on the board, raising his arms
in triumph after cutting it to 2-1 in the second set.
“I think the performance explains how I felt tonight,
particularly in the first two sets. It was kind of lights-out tennis really,
almost flawless, perfect first set,” Djokovic said. “I’ve probably had the
answer for every shot he had in his book.”
Djokovic improved to 17-0 in first-round matches at the U.S.
Open and assured he will regain the No. 1 ranking on Sept. 11. Because he
couldn’t play last year and had no rankings points to defend, Djokovic needed
only get to the second round to guarantee he would take the top spot back from
Carlos Alcaraz. It will be Djokovic’s 390th week atop the rankings, extending
his own record. -AP