Novak Djokovic ready to defend U.S. Open title
World No. 1 moving past recent losses, injuries
Friday's U.S. open draw set Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as potential semifinal opponents, while No. 2 Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are in the other half of the bracket.
Top-ranked Djokovic faces 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz in the first round. Janowicz has been ranked as high as 14th but has struggled in recent years and missed much of this season because of injuries. He's currently ranked 228th and used a protected ranking to get into the U.S. Open.
Thornhill, Ont.'s Milos Raonic faces German Dustin Brown while fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil will play Jozef Kovalic on Monday. Raonic could face Nadal in the quarter-finals if they both win out
Notably absent is Roger Federer, who won five of his men's record 17 Grand Slam titles in New York. Federer will be sitting out the U.S. Open for the first time since 1999 as he takes the rest of the season off to let his left knee heal.
A year ago, Federer lost in the final at Flushing Meadows to Djokovic. In Federer's mind, the top-ranked Djokovic is the favourite this time, even though Murray's summer has been "phenomenal."
One reason: Federer thinks the installation of the new US $150 million roof at the main arena will limit the wind even when it's open, which will help Djokovic.
Not too long ago, Djokovic appeared to be close to unbeatable no matter the surface or conditions, and a buzz was building about whether he could chase a true Grand Slam. But he exited Wimbledon in the third round, then the Olympics in the first round, while Murray won both of those titles.
"Novak, obviously, the last two years, really, has played amazing tennis. His consistency — what I've done for, like, the last four months, he's been doing for, like, the whole year," Murray said. "So I need to try and keep that going, and the U.S. Open is always the next big goal."
Djoker playing hurt?
Djokovic says he injured his left wrist in Rio de Janeiro a few days before the start of the Olympic tournament.
The right-handed Djokovic needs that wrist for his backhand. He said Friday he's "getting there" and hopes he'll be "as close to 100 per cent as possible" when he starts to defend his U.S. Open title.
The 12-time major champ also said his issues at Wimbledon weren't physical, but "there were other things I was going through." He declined to elaborate on those problems other than to say they had been resolved.
After Djokovic was upset in the third round of Wimbledon by 41st-ranked Sam Querrey, he was asked if he was 100 per cent healthy, replying "not really" but not going into details.
Djokovic lost in the first round at the Rio Games to 2009 U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro, whose ranking slipped because of left wrist problems of his own. Djokovic then pulled out of the hard-court warmup at Cincinnati, the first time he'd cited an issue with the wrist.