NEW YORK – Novak Djokovic didn’t try to keep his thoughts on track on Saturday, as he did mainly during his first two U.S. Open games. Instead, he let it all out, slapping his chest or teasing with his fist raised to celebrate the success, pointing his ear to make noise at the crowd.
This was the Djokovic that everyone is so used to seeing: yes, winning on the Grand Slam stage, of course, as he has done in this magical season, but also excited, encouraging viewers to join him for the his walk way to the history of tennis.
Taking another step in his bid to complete the first Slam of the calendar year for a man in more than half a century, Djokovic advanced to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the 14th consecutive appearance, beating Kei Nishikori again by 6 -7 (4), 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
“I couldn’t break the wall,” is how Nishikori described the task of taking on Djokovic. “It’s very hard to the end.”
Djokovic, the 34-year-old Serb who is ranked No. 1 in the standings, is now 24-0 in the top four sporting events this season, having won the Australian Open in February. French Open in June and Wimbledon in July. The last man to win 4 for 4 in the standings was Rod Laver in 1969; Steffi Graf was the last woman, in 1988.
Win four more matches next week and Djokovic would also win his 21st career Slam trophy, breaking the men’s mark he currently shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
It was in the fourth round last year when Djokovic’s U.S. Open race ended, failing at the end of the first set to hit a ball after conceding a game and inadvertently hitting a line judge in the throat. In 2019, an injury also ended his trip to New York in the fourth round.
Next up will be a match against 20-year-old American wildcard player Jenson Brooksby, or 21st-ranked Aslan Karatsev, who was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open this year.
Other players who advanced on a sunny Saturday included Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini and No. 13 Jannik Sinner; they gave Italy a pair of men in the round of 16 of the U.S. Open for the first time in the 140-year history of the event. Male Tokyo Games champion Alexander Zverev was scheduled to play in the night session.
After eliminating a couple of inexperienced opponents ranked 121st and 145th, Djokovic faced someone with a much better resume in Nishikori, who was runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Open and has been as tall as the number 4. Here, however, was the problem for Nishikori in that encounter: he had lost the last 16 games against Djokovic.
And while Nishikori, with loud roars from the stands of Arthur Ashe Stadium, stole the first set, the march to No. 17 in a row was soon underway.
“I don’t think I started very well. I was pretty passive. I was too far behind on the field. I was dictating the play,” Djokovic said. “He played a lot faster and more aggressively than my opponents in the opening rounds yes.”
A key fact: Djokovic made 20 unforced errors in the first set, and then reduced it to an average of 10 1/2 per set for the last three. Here’s more: Djokovic hit a maximum of 15 aces and dropped a serve a total of twice, while breaking Nishikori seven times.
Djokovic reacted to the vital moments with joy, provoking similar displays from fans, who were banned from the tournament in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. When he broke the lead 2-1 in the second set winning a fantastic point that ended with the two men near the net, he turned around and shouted with his mouth agape. At his guest box, his wife, Jelena, stood up and shouted, “Come on!”
When Djokovic saved a breaking point in the third set, he indicated he wanted louder cheers when he reached his right ear and then moved his fingers. When he broke to go up from 5 to 3, he grabbed his lips to say, “Ooh!”. In the next game, he reacted to a fall shot by hitting his head with the racket three times, and then yelled when he grabbed that set, first to one side of the bleachers, then another.
Djokovic described his improvement in the game as the game went on, stretching for 3 and a half hours, as “recovering that groove and getting that pace.” He certainly looked comfortable at the time on Saturday.
“Maybe,” Nishikori said, “he’s feeling this inside (a lot of pressure), but I couldn’t see that during the game.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.