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A32 sports
Dialuna 6 September 2021

Djokovic lets emotions show at US Open; No. 1 Barty loses

man in the round of 16 at the U.S. set over the last three.
Open since Andy Roddick in 2002.
Here’s more: Djokovic came up with
Other players advancing included a high-for-him 15 aces.
Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Ber-
rettini and No. 13 Jannik Sinner — “I couldn’t break the wall,” Nishikori
they gave Italy a pair of men in the said. “He’s very tough ’til the end.”
U.S. Open’s fourth round for the first
time in the event’s 140-year history And Djokovic reacted to vital mo-
— along with 22nd-seeded Ameri- ments with joy, eliciting similar dis-
can Reilly Opelka and South African plays from fans, who were barred
Lloyd Harris, who beat seventh-seed- from the tournament in 2020 because
ed Denis Shapovalov in straight sets. of the coronavirus pandemic.
In women’s action, Olympic wom-
en’s gold medalist Belinda Bencic, “The crowd was involved. It was
2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca loud. It was nice,” Djokovic said. “I
Andreescu, 2020 French Open cham- thrived on that.”
pion Iga Swiatek and two-time major
finalist Karolina Pliskova reached the When he broke to lead 2-1 in the
fourth round. second set by winning a fantastic
point that ended with both men near
After eliminating a couple of inexpe- the net, he spun around and yelled,
rienced opponents ranked 121st and mouth agape. In his guest box, his
145th, Djokovic faced someone with wife, Jelena, stood and shouted,
a far better resume in Nishikori, who “Come on!” When Djokovic saved
(AP) — Novak Djokovic did not York a year ago, while Barty owns was the runner-up at the 2014 U.S. a break point in the third set, he in-
seek to keep his thoughts to him- titles from the French Open in 2019 Open and has been as high as No. 4. dicated he wanted louder cheers by
self on court Saturday, the way he and Wimbledon this July but never reaching for his right ear, then wag-
mostly did through his first two has been past the fourth round at Here, though, was the problem for ging his fingers. When he broke to
U.S. Open matches. Instead, he Flushing Meadows. Nishikori heading into this encoun- go up 5-3, he pursed his lips to say,
let it all out, slapping his chest or ter: He’d lost his last 16 matches “Ooh!” In the next game, he reacted
sneering with a fist raised to cel- Coming into this match, Barty was against Djokovic. And while Nishi- to a netted drop shot by tapping him-
ebrate success, pointing to his ear 5-0 against Rogers and then went up kori, to loud roars from the stands in self on the head with his racket three
to ask the crowd for noise. two breaks at 5-2 in the third set. Arthur Ashe Stadium, stole the first times, then screamed first toward one
set, the march to No. 17 in a row was side of the stands, then another, when
This was the Djokovic everyone is so Rogers’ mindset at that point? soon in progress. he claimed that set.
accustomed to seeing — yes, winning
on the Grand Slam stage, of course, “Can’t get any worse. You’ve lost to “I don’t think I started off very well. Djokovic described his improved play
as he always does in this magical sea- her every time,” said Rogers, who I was quite passive. I was too far as the match wore on, stretching past
son, but also animated and into it, en- plays 18-year-old Emma Raducanu back in the court. He was dictating 3 1/2 hours, as “getting that groove
couraging the spectators to join him of Britain on Monday. “Try some- the play,” Djokovic said. “He played back and getting that rhythm.”
for the ride on his path toward tennis thing different.” much quicker and more aggressive
history. than my opponents in the opening In other words, he might just be hit-
Djokovic, a 34-year-old from Serbia, rounds did.” ting his stride.
Taking another step in his bid to is now 24-0 in the sport’s four most
complete the first calendar-year Slam important events this season, having One key stat: Djokovic made 20 un- “Maybe,” Nishikori said, “he’s feeling
by a man in more than a half-centu- won the Australian Open in February, forced errors in the first set, then re- that inside — a lot of pressure — but
ry, Djokovic moved into the fourth the French Open in June and Wim- duced that to an average of 10 1/2 per I couldn’t see that during the match.”
round at Flushing Meadows for the bledon in July. The last man to go 4
14th consecutive appearance, coming for 4 at the majors was Rod Laver in
back to beat Kei Nishikori 6-7 (4), 1969; Steffi Graf was the last woman,
6-3, 6-3, 6-2. in 1988.

“I don’t plan to have those kind of Win four more matches next week,
emotional moments on the court, and Djokovic also would earn his
whether good or bad. It just hap- 21st career Slam trophy, breaking the
pens,” Djokovic said. “In the heat men’s mark he currently shares with
of the battle, when you feel like the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
moment is very important ... you just
want to get those things out of your- “I would not be honest fully if I told
self, out of your system — try to, I you I don’t think or I don’t believe
guess, ride on that energy wave that or I don’t visualize that I can win
you create, whether it’s with yourself, every single Grand Slam that I play
whether it’s with the crowd.” in,” Djokovic said. “I’m not surprised
when I win Slams and big tourna-
So the No. 1-seeded Djokovic man- ments because that’s always a goal.”
aged to avoid the rash of upsets that
have hit the tournament, but the top- It was in the fourth round last year
seeded woman, Ash Barty, did not. A that Djokovic’s U.S. Open ended,
day after defending champion Naomi defaulted late in the first set for hit-
Osaka and two of the top five men, ting a ball after ceding a game and in-
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev advertently hitting a line judge in the
were beaten, Barty blew a big lead in throat.
the final set and lost to 43rd-ranked
Shelby Rogers of the U.S. 6-2, 1-6, Now he’ll play wild-card entry Jen-
7-6 (5) on Saturday night. son Brooksby, who edged 21st-seed-
ed Aslan Karatsev in five sets to be-
Rogers was a quarterfinalist in New come, at 20, the youngest American