Laslo Djere believes he can beat Novak Djokovic

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After his first match played at the 2024 US Open against Radu Albot, Novak Djokovic had said that he preferred to play in the day session rather than the night session. The organizers of the last Grand Slam of the season did not satisfy the former number 1 in the world, which was scheduled as the last match of the day on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot  

The 24-time Grand Slam champion will face his compatriot Laslo Djere, who last year had brought him to the fifth set only to give up after a very hard battle. Novak will want to repeat the mistakes of 2023 and try to start the match better than last year, when he was two sets down due to a lot of unforced errors.

The 37-year-old from Belgrade is one of the main favorites for the win in New York, where he hopes to win the 25th Slam of his amazing career. Novak has not yet won a Major in 2024 and suffered a clear defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Wimbledon Championships, where he never managed to put his opponent in difficulty also because of his poor physical condition (The Serbian had undergone knee surgery a few weeks earlier). Djokovic has shocked the world so many times and is still hungry, but it will not be easy for him to win this edition of the US Open.

Djokovic will start favorite against Djere

Novak Djokovic will start favorite against his compatriot Laslo Djere tonight, but he must be careful of a very dangerous opponent on this surface.

Speaking with Sportklub before the match, Djere opened up on facing Nole in New York: “There’s not much to say. I’ll be physically ready, hopefully the arm will be fine. We all know who Novak is and what he has accomplished in tennis. The numbers are on his side – not just against me, but against anyone. Last time I played well and was in good shape, I played very well against Novak. Of course, your chances are not great when he is on the other side of the net, but I am convinced that this sport is very strange.”

Novak Djokovic, US Open 2024© Stream screenshot  

The 24-time Grand Slam champion has not had an easy path to the US Open, but he avoided Carlos Alcaraz (who ended up in the draw split headed by Jannik Sinner). The Serbian legend could use the first week to pick up the pace and express her best tennis in the decisive rounds.

During an interview with Eurosport, Novak reflected on his current status: “I hope to never recover from that (winning the Olympics), because it’s the best set of feelings that I ever had as an athlete. On the court but also off, when we went back to celebrate with our people, all of the Serbian Olympians that managed to win a medal. It was a very unique moment for me.

I’ll never forget it and I’ll try to use it as a great confidence boost for what’s coming up in New York in the next few weeks. I haven’t had much time to recover or much time to train. I tried to get the most out of the few weeks that I had. I had more time than all the other guys that played the tournaments, but that was a conscious decision that I made not to have any lead-up tournaments to the US Open because I just felt that the calendar is too congested this year with the Olympics. I needed my break, short but sweet, celebration, family quality time and then of course I started my training and trying to build my body, build my form for the start of the tournament.”

Nole is focused on the goal

The former world number 1 appeared to be in crisis early in the season and his motivation was very low, but the atmosphere of the Olympics allowed him to return to a very high level. The 37-year-old from Belgrade said he would like to continue playing at the top level for a few more years, perhaps until the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Radu Albot & Novak Djokovic, US Open 2024© Stream screenshot  

"Young players are hungry and determined to show their best tennis against me, which gives me extra motivation, awakens a kind of beast in me. For instance, losing the Wimbledon 2023 final against Alcaraz hurt me a lot. I consider the Spaniard the most complete tennis player I have seen in a long time. That defeat angered me so much that I found the necessary energy to then win in Cincinnati and the US Open. Having these types of rivals is a great opportunity to continue reinventing myself and making an effort every day” – Nole explained during the show ’60 Minutes’.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/sJVH3iF

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