From Slow Start To Same Old Novak: Can Djokovic Be Stopped In New York?

In May, Novak Djokovic entered the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a 6-6 tour-level record in 2018.

After a fourth-round loss to inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung at the Australian Open, his first tournament appearance in six months, Djokovic underwent a small medical intervention on a right elbow injury. On his return to action in March, back-to-back opening match losses in Indian Wells and Miami followed, before early defeats on clay in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

In Rome, Djokovic produced an encouraging run of performances before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. That result saw the Serbian, who reached the final in the Italian capital 12 months earlier, drop to No. 22 in ATP Rankings on 21 May; equalling his lowest position since 2 October 2006.

A disappointing loss to breakout star Marco Cecchinato in the Roland Garros quarter-finals followed, before Djokovic’s season took a sharp turn for the better as he walked onto the grass courts of Great Britain. The former World No. 1 reached his first final in almost a year at the Fever-Tree Championships in June, holding championship point before falling in three sets to Marin Cilic.

“There was always part of me that believed I could come back relatively quickly to the level of tennis that I once was playing,” said Djokovic. “But at the same time I felt like the six months off served me very well to find new motivation, inspiration, to recharge my batteries and also to understand how I want to continue playing tennis… I had more time to work on certain things. Unfortunately I couldn’t serve because I still had that pain. But all the other shots I could really work on.

“I think sometimes that’s nice to have, even though you don’t want to be injured. At the same time it allows you to have more periods of time where you can focus on certain elements in your game, things that usually you don’t have time to reflect on.”

Not to be discouraged by his near miss at The Queen’s Club, Djokovic went from strength to strength, ending his 54-week title drought at Wimbledon. The Belgrade-born star defeated World No. 1 Nadal in the semi-finals, over two days, after five hours and 15 minutes, in an instant classic on Centre Court before capturing his 13th Grand Slam crown with a straight-sets win over Kevin Anderson.

A Round of 16 loss to #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas followed at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, a stumbling block on the road to Djokovic’s unique entry into the history books, in the following week, at the Western & Southern Open. In Cincinnati, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in the championship match to capture the Career Golden Masters,  completing his set of the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles..

The first man to ever accomplish the feat, Djokovic entered New York high on confidence and has carried his form through the tournament. Since dropping the third set of his second round match against Tennys Sandgren, Djokovic has won 13 consecutive sets; his second longest streak en route to a championship match.

Number Of Consecutive Sets Won At A Grand Slam By Djokovic En Route To The Final

With a 68-10 record at the US Open, Djokovic will face Juan Martin del Potro for the 19th time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (Djokovic leads 14-4) in Sunday’s final. Bidding to win Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year for the third time in his career (2011, 2015), Djokovic will attempt to record his fourth consecutive victory over the Argentine. Del Potro’s last victory against Djokovic came in the opening round of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“He’s a big-time player. He’s a big-match player. He’s a Grand Slam winner,” said Djokovic. “He’s playing the tennis of his life, without a doubt, in the past 15 months… Ever since [the 2016 Olympic Games, he has been] very consistent in the big tournaments. That’s what has made him No. 3 in the world. He’s working his way up. He’s playing really some powerful tennis.”

Will Djokovic, appearing in an Open Era record-tying eighth US Open final, be able to lift his third title in New York and join Pete Sampras on 14 Grand Slam titles? One thing is for sure, Djokovic certainly has momentum on his side.

Most Grand Slam Titles (All Time)

“Seeing the results, the consistency of the results I’ve had here, it probably has been my most successful Grand Slam,” said Djokovic. “Of course, I won the Australian Open six times, never lost finals there. I think I’ve played more than 10 semi-finals here. It’s definitely one of my favorite tournaments to play because of the conditions and because of the fact that I’ve played so well in each year that I keep on coming back to the US Open.

“I know that I feel very comfortable here. It just allows me to feel more comfortable playing, starting the tournament and going through it. I have two finals won and five losses. But hopefully I can get one better in few days.”