Less than 48 hours after becoming the first man in history to complete the Career Golden Masters, Novak Djokovic was awake bright and early Tuesday for an appearance on NBC’s breakfast show, Today, in New York City.

“It feels great [to complete the Career Golden Masters]… It is amazing to be in New York and obviously for the first time, at my sixth attempt, to win Cincinnati,” said Djokovic. “It’s probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis, to win all the Masters.”

The 31-year-old, fresh off his recent win over Roger Federer at the Western & Southern Open, is already in New York City as he begins preparations for the final Grand Slam of the season. The two-time champion joined Hoda Cobb, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin and fans for a quick visit as excitement begins to build ahead of Monday’s start of the US Open. Djokovic, who most recently lifted the trophy in 2015 (also 2011), owns a 62-10 record at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

After missing the 2017 tournament due to injury, Djokovic will be making his first appearance at the event since his runner-up finish to Stan Wawrinka two years ago. The 70-time tour-level titlist will be seeded sixth, with defending champion Rafael Nadal and five-time winner Roger Federer occupying the No.1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.

“I’ve been through a difficult journey with an injury that kept me away from the Tour for the second part of last season,” said Djokovic. “For sixth months I was away, I [did not] play the US Open. It was the first Grand Slam I had missed… I’m really glad I am back on track. I recovered well and I am playing at my best at the moment. It is the best possible way to prepare for the US Open.”

Note: Fans in the U.S. can watch this week’s US Open qualifying action on Tennis Channel.

#NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz picked up his 14^th win of the season on Monday at the Winston-Salem Open, beating Tunisian Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-4. Fritz reached the quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour 250 event a year ago and will look to reach his second semi-final of 2018 (Houston). He will next meet seventh seed Filip Krajinovic of Serbia in the second round.

The 20-year-old Fritz was one of a number of 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals hopefuls to advance on day two in North Carolina. Countryman Tommy Paul, who qualified, never faced a break point and beat Serbian Laslo Djere 6-3, 7-6(4). Paul will next play eighth seed Steve Johnson.

Spain’s Jaume Munar dismissed Canadian qualifier Brayden Schnur 7-6(5), 7-6(1) to set a second-round #NextGenATP battle with Russian Andrey Rublev, the 11^th seed. In second-round action, Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany upset fourth seed Marco Cecchinato of Italy 6-3, 6-4, and 14^th seed Nicolas Jarry of Chilie swept Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-3.

France’s Julien Benneteau, in his final ATP World Tour match, fell to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-3. Benneteau, 36, plans to retire after the US Open, which starts 27 August. Eighth seed Hyeon Chung was leading Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-6 (5/2) before rain postponed their match late Monday evening.

The incredible story of Mansour Bahrami, who has entertained thousands through his trick shots, will be given the big-screen treatment by HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel”.

Bahrami was forbidden from playing tennis in his native Iran, but his passion for tennis led him to France, where he went from a homeless man to a successful doubles player and two-time ATP World Tour doubles titlist. How did he do it?

“Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” airs at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday 21 August. The show is available only in the U.S.