Novak Djokovic swallows bitter pills on Roger Federer being the last man to defend his US Open title as Nole discusses his poor finals record in New York

Novak Djokovic talks about his record at the US Open.

Novak Djokovic swallows bitter pills on Roger Federer being the last man to defend his US Open title as Nole discusses his poor finals record in New York

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (Image via Tennis 365)

Novak Djokovic has arguably largely underachieved at the US Open despite it being a hard-court tournament. The world number 2 has won the tournament three times (2011,2015,2018). Djokovic has lost 6 finals at the Flushing Meadows, the most of all Grand Slams for the Serb. Notably, Roger Federer was the last man to defend his title at the US Open. The Swiss Legend won an Open Era record of five consecutive titles between 2004 and 2008 at the US Open.

Talking about his poor record at the US Open, Djokovic said in his pre-tournament press conference, “Well, I actually lost more finals here than I won in my career. My score in the finals of US Open is the worst of all slams I think. There’s some very close finals that I lost; some that I won.” Djokovic was defeated by Daniil Medvedev in his last appearance at the US Open. The Russian won the US Open 2021 final in straight sets to clinch his first major.

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It isn’t all doom and gloom for the 23-time Grand Slam champion at the US Open. Painting an optimistic picture, Djokovic said, “But generally I think the consistency of results here has been pretty good. I mean, I’ve played most of my US Open editions at least quarterfinals or better throughout the last 15 years.”

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Talking about the possible reasons for his underperformance, the Serb said, “It could be the fact that it’s in the end of the season in a way. End of the Grand Slam season. It’s the last Grand Slam of the year. It’s been eight tough months of tennis for all the players. Maybe that’s the reason why you would probably see more surprises in this Grand Slam than maybe some other slams. That’s the only thing that really comes to my mind. Yeah, nothing else.”

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Novak Djokovic has no resentments over missing last year’s US Open

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic with the US Open title (Image via ATP Tour)

23-time Grand Slam champion controversially missed out on last year’s US Open. Due to Djokovic’s unvaccinated status against COVID-19, he was unable to compete in the US Open as the US government did not allow unvaccinated non-US citizens to enter the country. As a result he withdrew from the tournament on 25 August,2022.

Responding to a question on if he held any grudges on not being able to participate last year, Djokovic said, “No, there was no anger. It was last year during the Open that I felt it’s a pity that I’m not there. I felt sad for not being able to participate. But this year, I mean, is this year. I don’t think about what happened in the last year or last couple of years. Just focusing my attention to this year’s tournament.” Djokovic began his preparations for the tournament with a practice game alongside Alexander Zverev.

The world number 2 starts pursuit for his 24th Grand Slam in the first round against the French player Alexandre Müller. The French will be making his main-draw debut at Flushing Meadows.

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