Djokovic advances after Djere retires at US Open

pSerbian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a advanced to the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a third round Wednesday when his countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/laslo-djere/db63/overview'Laslo Djere/a retired early in the third set. The second seed led 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 before the retirement under the roof of a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-ashe/a063/overview'Arthur Ashe/a Stadium./p
pldquo;Itrsquo;s not what we want. Itrsquo;s not what the crowd wants, to see a walkover,rdquo; Djokovic said. ldquo;But he obviously had an injury that took him out of the Tour for some time and he is struggling to come back physically to this level. Hersquo;s such a good player, especially in these conditions. It shouldrsquo;ve been his second set, honestly. It was 4-2, 15/40./p
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ldquo;Overall, it was a big fight. Over two hours for two sets. I served awful. So playing without the serve, you have to grind, you have to run. So I guess I had to rely on my baseline game.rdquo;/p
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pDjere held two break points at 4-2 in the second set that would have allowed him to serve for the set had he converted. The 29-year-old did not win another game. He called a medical timeout before serving at 4-5 and received treatment in the abdominal area./ppDjokovic made just 47 per cent of his first serves, the same percentage he recorded in the first round against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/radu-albot/a829/overview'Radu Albot/a. After sealing the opening set by breaking Djere to love at 5-4, Djokovic called the physio and took a tablet, though he did not call a medical timeout. Both players were visibly gasping for air at times following lengthy rallies in the humid conditions./pp

Across two hours and 16 minutes, Djokovic committed 26 unforced errors and converted four of his 10 break chances./pp

By advancing, Djokovic became the first male player to record 90 wins at all four majors. He is eight victories shy of tying a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jimmy-connors/c044/overview'Jimmy Connors/a for most a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a match wins./ppp

This was Djokovic’s second consecutive year facing Djere at Flushing Meadows. Last year, Djokovic trailed two-sets-to-love before storming back and eventually claiming the trophy. Djere was the only player to win a set against Djokovic at last year’s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a./pp

Up next for the defending champion is a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexei-popyrin/p09z/overview'Alexei Popyrin/a, who the Belgrade native beat at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a and at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a, both in four sets. Djokovic will look for a third victory against Popyrin in as many majors this year and improve upon his 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead. Montreal champion Popyrin defeated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pedro-martinez/mo44/overview'Pedro Martinez/a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0./p
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Djokovic, 31-7 on the season, is chasing a 25th major crown and 100th tour-level title. Should he claim his fifth a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a title, Djokovic would break a tie with Australiarsquo;s Margaret Court for most Slam singles titles, male or female./p
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