Novak Djokovic explained on Friday before beginning his chase for a fourth US Open title that World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is bringing the best out of him.

The pair clashed on Sunday in the Western & Southern Open final and the Serbian needed three hours and 49 minutes to emerge with his record-extending 39th ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

“He’s always pushing me to the limit. I think I do to him pretty much the same thing. That’s why we produced memorable final. It was one of the best, most exciting, and most difficult finals I was ever part of in best-of-three, no doubt, throughout my career,” Djokovic said. “That’s why I fell on the ground after I won the match because it felt like winning a Grand Slam, to be honest. The amount of exchanges and rallies. It was physically so demanding and grueling that I felt very exhausted for the next few days.”

Late in the first set and early in the second set of the epic Cincinnati final, Djokovic appeared to be struggling physically. But the 36-year-old embraced the battle, saved a championship point in the second-set tie-break and found his best tennis from there.

“I love competition. I think the more you find yourself in those particular circumstances where you’re experiencing adversity on the court, where things are not maybe moving the right way for you in terms of the performance of that day, in terms of tennis, or mentally you’re not feeling your best, that’s normally the best possible opportunity for you to grow mentally from that, to learn something,” Djokovic said. “Normally in the face of adversity is where you learn the most.”

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Now Djokovic is back in New York for the first time since 2021. That year, he won the first three majors of the season, but fell one match short of becoming the first man to win all four majors in a year since Rod Laver in 1969.

“The first feeling that I have is excitement to come back because it is the biggest arena we have in our sport, the biggest stadium, and definitely the most fun, electric, exciting atmosphere out there in tennis, playing night session in Arthur Ashe, no doubt,” Djokovic said. “I’m very excited that I’ll be able to play the opening night on Monday. Come back in front of probably the loudest fans in sport, tennis fans in sport.

“I’m just very, very [much] looking forward to that. It’s been two years when I played last here and lost finals to Medvedev in ’21, going for four Slams in a year. I haven’t performed well that day in terms of tennis. But what I felt from the crowd, that kind of connection and love and support that they gave me throughout entire match and also in the closing ceremony, was something that I carry still in my heart, and I still feel vibes from that night of the finals two years ago.”

The last major Djokovic played, he suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. He is keen to bounce back and claim a record-extending 24th Slam crown.

“Grand Slams are the biggest goals that I have in my career at the moment. I always speak about that, that I aim to peak and perform my best in Grand Slams,” Djokovic said. “I don’t know how many more Slams I’ll have. I’ll still keep going. I don’t have an end in my mind at the moment. I also understand that things are different when you’re 36, so I have to be more appreciative, a bit more I guess present, treating every Grand Slam as maybe your last one in terms of commitment and performance.

“I see every Grand Slam that I play right now as really a golden opportunity to make more history. Of course, there’s a big significance to that.”

Djokovic is the second seed in New York, where all eyes will be on him as he continues to chase history. Although he rarely shows it, the 95-time tour-level titlist admitted he gets “nervous as anybody else really”.

“People think that I don’t have any stress or tension. Actually in contrary, I have quite a lot of that. I have to deal with it, manage it,” Djokovic said. “Everyone has their own way of managing the emotions and trying to be in optimal balance emotionally, mentally, and physically in order to perform their best.”

Djokovic will need to reach the final to have a chance to play Alcaraz again this fortnight. Is the Serbian thinking ahead to that potential matchup?

“Carlos is No. 1 in the world. He’s definitely one of the best players in the world the last couple years. Sure, there’s always an eye that follows him from my team, from any other team. I know that the same goes for me probably. We follow each other,” Djokovic said. “I’m sure his team watches my matches. My team watches his matches. It’s no secret. But seriously working on a practice court on something that is related to Alcaraz, it only happens if I get to play him.”

While tennis fans may be looking ahead to a potential Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic final at the US Open, World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev is looking to play the role of disruptor this fortnight.

Medvedev has enjoyed the Alcaraz-Djokovic budding rivalry like anyone else, but with much of the attention on the top seed and the 23-time major champion, the 27-year-old could crash the party.

“I think that’s normal we talk about them. I do think we still talk about me,” Medvedev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I’m not feeling too bad, but I’m going to try. The goal is after this US Open, that we talk about me, so I’m going to try to do it. I just try to win. That’s the most important. But unconsciously, I feel like many times I was playing good in this role. Hopefully it can help me these two weeks.

“I think it’s great for tennis that we have these two guys playing against each other right now. As I say, it’s a great story, but then the tournament starts and hopefully we can — when I say ‘we’ [I mean] me personally or someone else — we’re going to try to beat them and stop them from playing each other.”

The third seed Medvedev enters the season’s final major boasting a 49-11 match record this year. A highlight of his season came in February and March, when Medvedev won 19 consecutive matches and collected three straight titles: Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.

Aiming for his sixth trophy of the season and first major title since his triumph in New York two years ago, Medvedev is still finding ways to improve his game.

“Definitely the serve, trying to work on it right now. Serve is a tough shot because it’s such fine margins sometimes,” Medvedev said. “It’s probably the most important shot in tennis because in general, serve can save you many times. You can play not the best match, but serve can save you. You go to the tie-break, then you start playing better. Happened to me many times.

“Everyone went through this stage and sometimes it’s in one week and sometimes it’s in one month where you serve just a little bit worse. In general, I know I can serve very well. Usually, the US Open for whatever reason I was serving even better than I usually do. Hopefully this can help me.”

The 20-time tour-level titlist will open against Hungarian Attila Balazs and is seeded to meet long-time friend Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals. A potential meeting with Wimbledon champion Alcaraz lies in the semi-finals, but Medvedev enters the American Slam with his full attention on one match at a time.

“I’m feeling good right now. Hopefully I can feel like this during the tournament also,” Medvedev said. “How do you cope with this? You try with your team to do the best schedule possible in terms of days off, practices, what you do in your off time. I feel like I’m pretty experienced in this so hopefully I can be 100 per cent starting from the first match.”

Last year, Carlos Alcaraz enjoyed his breakthrough moment at the US Open. The Spaniard captured his maiden major title and rose to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

Twelve months on and the defending champion returns to New York, chasing his third Slam title. The top seed fired a warning to the rest of the field ahead of his opening match against Germany’s Dominik Koepfer.

“I feel that I’m more mature on court. I feel that I’m a better player than I was a year ago,” Alcaraz said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I got my first Grand Slam last year, but I feel like I’m more mature and I’m better.”

Alcaraz’s 53-6 record this season backs up his statement, with the 20-year-old clinching a Tour-leading six titles. The World No. 1 has demonstrated his ability to deal with pressure in 2023, clawing past Novak Djokovic in five sets to win Wimbledon in July.

As defending champion, Alcaraz is ready to deal with raised expectations again.

“I try to do exactly the same thing that I did last year, trying to practise the same way that I’m going to play, and focus on that. I’m not focus on the defending champion, the points, whatever,” Alcaraz said. “I’m just focused on showing my best level, trying to improve in every practice, and let’s see how it is going to be in the tournament.”

Alcaraz is seeded to meet sixth seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals in what would be a rematch of their epic clash at last year’s event. The Spaniard, who is also in the same half of the draw as 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, is likely to have NBA star Jimmy Butler in support. Alcaraz and Butler have developed a close friendship since they first met a year ago.

“I started to know him one year ago, to have a close relationship that is pretty good,” Alcaraz said. “He’s a really huge fan of tennis. He trying to play. I think it’s great for tennis to have Jimmy coming to tournaments and supporting us. It’s great. Talking about me having him supporting me, a great athlete, NBA star, so it’s for me almost crazy to have a good relationship with someone like Jimmy.”

The 20-year-old arrives in New York as the World No. 1, but is unlikely to leave the event on top spot. If Djokovic, who beat Alcaraz in an epic Cincinnati final, wins his opening match, he will gain 20 points and guarantee his return to No. 1 on Monday 11 September. The Serbian is not defending any points, having not played last year’s event. The Spaniard is defending 2000 points.

Alcaraz, who did not win either of the ATP Masters 1000 events in Toronto or Cincinnati this month, is aiming to become the first man to successfully defend their US Open title since Roger Federer in 2008.

Top seed Borna Coric advanced to his third semi-final of the year after waiting out a four-hour thunderstorm delay before taking the court against 21-year-old Juan Manuel Cerundolo Thursday night in Winston-Salem.

The storm, initially with heavy rain and later with thunder and lightning, pushed back the start of the night session to around 10.30 pm, leaving officials with no option but to play the two remaining quarter-finals concurrently on Stadium and Court 2.

Coric claimed an early break in the first set against the left-handed World No. 100, who had just three tour-level wins this season coming into the tournament, and pushed on to a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

“I was serving really well and I was much happier with my return today,” said Coric. “Even though we had to wait four hours I wanted to play the match tonight so now I get to rest rather than playing two times tomorrow.”

The Croatian is chasing his fourth career title and first since he claimed the biggest title of his career just over a year ago at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati.

In Friday’s Saturday night semi-final, Coric faces a first-time Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Argentine Sebastian Baez, who is on the cusp of his second consecutive final after defeating Laslo Djere 6-3, 6-0.

Making his first appearance since winning the Kitzbuehel title on clay, the sixth seed came up clutch in the first set, rallying from 0/40 in the opening game of the match and ultimately saving all five break points he faced in the set.

Baez, who is up to No. 35 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race, is chasing his fourth career title.

“The first set was difficult for both of us but I tried to be focussed for every point,” Baez said. “He’s a very good player so I’m very happy to be through to the semi-finals.

“In Argentina I practised two weeks before this tournament and was with my family and my friends, which has given me confidence for this tournament.”

Coric and Baez will also play in the first round of the US Open.

Sebastian Korda’s delight at saving a match point to reach the Winston-Salem semi-finals Thursday has been shattered by his forced withdrawal from the tournament due to an ankle injury.

The 23-year-old American injured his left ankle when he slipped and fell midway through the third set of his 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) victory over veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the first quarter-final match of the day.

Although he completed the match, after receiving treatment he announced his withdrawal shortly after 8pm. The withdrawal results in his would-be semi-final opponent, Czech Jiri Lehecka, advancing to the final.

“I have taken the tough decision to pull out. The ankle wasn’t getting any better,” Korda said. “Hopefully it gets better in the next couple of days. It was a tough decision but a necessary one. I’ll keep my head up and hopefully recover for next week.

“I’m very grateful for having being given a wild card and the chance to play a tonne of matches. It’s a great facility with great fans.”

Korda, who captured his only tour-level trophy in Parma in 2021, recovered from failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the third set. He struck two double faults in the game, but responded in the decisive tie-break, saving one match point at 6/7 before converting on his third opportunity to advance after two hours and 31 minutes.

The 23-year-old, currently No. 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, now leads Gasquet 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Lehecka, who will now advance to Saturday’s final, ousted Australian Max Purcell 7-6(4), 6-4. Purcell challenged the Czech by often moving forward, but the 21-year-old Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up stayed steady from the baseline and won 84 per cent of his first-serve points to advance moments before heavy rain in North Carolina.

“Super happy with my win today. After two three-setters, to finally finish in straight sets against a player like Max is always special,” Lehecka said. “To [finish] before the rain came is a bonus. I’m very happy with my performance today.”

Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow continued their Winston-Salem Open run on Thursday when they booked their ticket to the semi-finals.

After ousting top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the opening round, the Americans cruised past Simone Bolelli and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-2 in just 64 minutes. Lammons and Withrow, who are aiming for their third tour-level title of the season (Newport, Atlanta), will next clash against third seeds Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski.

Second seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Neal Skupski also advanced to the last four Thursday after they saved a match point to down Australians Matthew Ebden and John-Patrick Smith 7-5, 4-6, 11-9. The British duo won three straight points from 8-9 in the Match Tie-break to set a meeting against Marcelo Demoliner and Matwe Middelkoop or Romain Arneodo and Ariel Behar.

#NextGenATP lefties Dominic Stricker and Shang Juncheng secured US Open qualifying wins Thursday to move one step closer towards making their maiden main-draw appearance at the season’s final major.

The Swiss Stricker survived fellow #NextGenATP star Pablo Llamas Ruiz 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(13-11) in a dramatic two hours, 41 minutes. Stricker and the Spaniard were locked at 9/9 in the Match Tie-break when rain stopped play for nearly three hours.

When players returned to court, the 22nd seed Stricker put the finishing touches on the victory, converting his third match point, to set a meeting with Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante, who ousted American Brandon Holt 7-6(4), 6-3.

Shang, 18, downed home hope Patrick Kypson 6-4, 7-6(2) after winning 81 per cent of his first-serve points to set a meeting with 28th seed Finn Otto Virtanen. 

The 21-year-old Stricker is 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Race to Jeddah, while Shang is 17th. This year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, which hosts the season’s best 21-and-under players, will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Stricker is aiming for a second consecutive appearance at the event. The Chinese star Shang is seeking his maiden qualification.

In other action Thursday at Flushing Meadows, Chinese Taipei’s Yu Hsiou Hsu escaped 20th seed Benoit Paire 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Third seed Federico Coria cruised past American Martin Damm 6-3, 6-2. Fourth seed Taro Daniel defeated South Korean Seongchan Hong 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.