ATP US Open: Novak Djokovic eases past Damir Dzumhur to kick off campaign in style

The second Major of the season has started at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Monday, with the three-time US Open champion hitting the court during the night session. World no. 1 and the 17-time Major champion Novak Djokovic is off to a winning start, dismantling his good friend Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours for the 288th Major victory. It was Novak's 24th triumph from as many matches in 2020, winning them all on hard court and lifting trophies at the ATP Cup, the Australian Open, Dubai and Cincinnati on Saturday on these same courts in New York. The Serb fended off six out of seven break chances, suffering one break early in the second set and dominating the score with 31 winners and 29 unforced errors. Dzumhur's serve was always in danger, giving away over half of the initial shot points and facing 18 break opportunities, getting broken six times to propel Novak into the second round where he plays against Kyle Edmund.

Novak played against a break point already in the first game, fending it off with a smash winner at the net and sealing it with an ace. Damir got broken in the second game when his volley landed long, allowing Djokovic to bring the third game home with a hold at love and open a 3-0 advantage. The Bosnian netted a backhand slice to suffer another break and find himself 4-0 down, squandering a break chance in game five and finally adding his name to the scoreboard after a forehand winner that reduced his deficit to 5-1. Serving for the set, Novak delivered a perfect serve & volley combo for a 6-1 in 23 minutes, hoping for more of the same for the rest of the encounter. The Serb broke at love in the third game of the second set to move in front, only to play a careless service game that kept Damir in contention at 2-2.

Novak Djokovic needed less than two hours to beat Damir Dzumhur. 

The sixth and seventh games offered many deuces and  nine break chances, with Djokovic fending off three of those at 2-3, creating six opportunities in the next one but squandering them all to keep Dzumhur on the positive side of the scoreboard. Djokovic held at 30 in game eight and grabbed a break at 15 following a costly double fault from Damir, opening a 5-4 gap and holding after a backhand mistake from his rival in game ten that pushed him two sets to love up. Dzumhur hit another double fault to start the third set in the worst possible way, with Djokovic erasing a break point in game four for a 3-1 advantage (the Bosnian received a medical timeout before that game). A forehand crosscourt winner earned another break for the Serb in game five, moving over the top with another at 5-1 to reach the second round. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3behyCF