World No 1 Novak Djokovic shrugged off a bit of battle from Damir Dzumhur to secure his 24th straight victory in New York, 6-1 6-4 6-1.
After properly equipping himself for the US Open during his victory in the Western & Southern Open last week, the Serbian superstar evidently did not lack motivation in the way he set about his task.
The victory didn’t come quite as cheap but Djokovic will have been satisfied with another valuable workout as he gives chase to what would be an 18th Grand Slam title and a fourth at Flushing Meadows.
“The intensity was there, definitely,” says Djokovic. “I played really well in the first set, but in the second I lost my focus and kind of got stressed out a couple of times and screamed, so that’s obviously still there despite the empty stadium.
“But, this is what I bring to the court, I bring a lot of intensity and energy and sometimes my reactions are not always positive but I try to bounce back.”
His 32 winners eclipsed Dzumhur’s total of 24 and overall, the top seed’s more precise work (29 unforced errors to 41) helped to secure the result. Djokovic will want to increase his conversion rate on breakpoints though, having converted just seven of the 19 he created.
“Do I want to keep the (winning) streak going? Of course, I do. But am I thinking about it as a priority every single day? No,” he adds.
“But it’s there, it’s an additional motivation for me and it fuels me to play even stronger and even better and play to the right intensity in every match.”
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Novak Djokovic second-round opponent, Kyle Edmund, also finished strong against Alexander Bublik on the opening day of the Grand Slam to secure the encounter after playing some determined tennis.
The British No 3 was forced to overcome a difficult first set in order to prevail. Bublik dominated the opening exchanges, producing just four unforced errors, and broke the Brit twice in order to take the set in just 34 minutes.
