US Open 2023 Novak Djokovic: “The break at the beginning of the third set gave me courage, it was a very tough match”

An exciting victory for Novak Djokovic in the third round of the 2023 US Open. On the hard Flushing Meadows stadium in New York, in the United States, the Serb (No. 2 in the world, but No. 1 actually) fell in two sets to his compatriot Laslo Geer, But then he knew how to act in the most difficult moment and turned the match on its head, ending the match with the final score 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. After nearly four hours of playing. Now in the Round of 16, Noli will have to deal with Croatian Borna Jogo.

“The first two sets I suffered a lot – said Djokovic immediately after the win in front of the crowd, who watched the match until almost two o’clock in the morning. This was one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played here. Jerry was really good and I congratulate him. He got a very high levelIt was very difficult for me to find solutions against him.“.

After losing the second set, Djokovic left the court to try to rearrange his thoughts: “I looked in the mirror and told myself I had to try to change something. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a moment like this, and I often find myself saying certain things to myself in front of the mirror. It doesn’t always go well, but this time it did. Okay”.

The turning point in the match came in the third set, when Djokovic managed to win the first game: “I also raised my level thanks to the crowd. As soon as I got the break I got up and started playing more aggressively. It went well, but it was very difficult until the last shot.”

As mentioned earlier, Djokovic will now face Borna Jogo. But at the moment, the Serb does not want to think about the next match: He added, “At the moment I do not care who I will face in the round of 16. What matters now is sleep and rest to recover as much energy as possible.”

Photo: La Presse