Novak Djokovic debuted with a resounding victory and equaled Roger Federer’s historic mark

Novak Djokovic obtained this Monday night a overwhelming victory in the first round of US Open. The Serbian victory in seven runs to Moldavian Radu Albot and not only is the search for his 25th Grand Slam title still in force, but also equaled a historical mark held by the Swiss Roger Federer in the New York tournament.

In his first match after winning gold in Paris 2024, the former world number 1 and current second in the ranking of Italian Jannik Sinner, beat Albot with sets of 6-2, 6-2 and 6-4, in just two hours and seven minutes. “I love playing night matches, but maybe not that late,” Djokovic said of Center Court Arthur Ashe.

In this way, the 37-year-old Serbian He reached Federer as the second player with the most wins at Flushing Meadows, both with 89 and only surpassed by Jimmy Connors’ 98.

He did not need to force the machine at its debut on reigning US Open championwho if he manages to win again in Flushing Meadows would become the tennis player with the most Grand Slam crowns, breaking ties with Margaret Court’s 24.

Although he committed an unusual 10 double faults against Albot, he only allowed him three break point opportunities, of which the Moldovan barely took advantage of just one.

Albot, number 138 in the ranking, had not prevailed in any of his 11 previous matches against members of the top-10 and against the Serbian giant He only showed some resistance in the third setin which he was 2-3 ahead.

The Balkan, who is seeking his 100th title in total to become the oldest tennis player to win one of the four most important tournaments on the circuit in the ‘open era’, did not want the game to be extended any longer and then broke the serve of the Moldovan to set foot in the second round.

In the next match, Djokovic will meet his compatriot Laslo Djere again. Nole is aware that this is an opponent that can be very complicated since he put him on the ropes in the third round of the 2023 US Open. In fact, he was forced to come back from two sets down and win an epic match in five sets to avoid falling off the cliff.

The US Open draw has Djokovic on the opposite side of the Italian Jannik Sinner (n.1) and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (n.3), with whom he would only meet in a hypothetical final.

With information from agencies.