Novak Djokovic got his campaign to win a fourth US Open, and 18th grand slam title overall, off to a flying start by beating Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round, where he will meet Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
Djokovic broke Dzumhur’s serve for a seventh time to seal the win in the first night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, which, due to Covid-19, was missing the thousands of rowdy New York tennis fans that usually flock to Queens every year.
Dzumhur, who hails from Bosnia and Herzegovina, had no answer to the world No1’s blistering serve and stout defence in a match that lasted just under two hours. The 28-year-old did not make it easy on himself, committing 41 unforced errors and eight double faults to fall to 0-3 lifetime against Djokovic.
With the win the Serbian, who won his fourth title of the year at the Western & Southern Open on Saturday, improved to 24-0 on the season.
Afterwards Djokovic said: “Do I want to keep the streak going? Of course I do. But am I thinking about it as a priority every single day? No. 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.”