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Fans were left speechless at the US Open on Tuesday when Novak Djokovic’s quest to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam got off to a weird start.
Djokovic was a class above young opponent Holger Rune in the first set at Flushing Meadows, beating his rival 6-1.
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However, the second set was a whole different story as 18-year-old qualifier Rune surprised the tennis world to win it in a tie-breaker.
The young Dane took a shocking 3-0 lead in the second before Djokovic managed to right the ship.
However, Rune made fans fall apart when he won 7-5 in the breaker to tie the game in one set.
Onlookers in attendance often applauded “Ruuuuuuune” for the adolescent phenomenon, which some believed to be boos directed at Djokovic.
Fans have flocked to social media to express their disbelief that the world No.1 dropped a set to his teenage opponent.
Unfortunately for Rune, his body eventually let him down, with cruel cramps in its attempt to end a shock spillover.
Rune’s movement was hampered in the final two sets, with Djokovic winning 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the second round.
“It was not the best of my performances,” admitted Djokovic after the match.
“But at the same time he played well in the second set when it was important.”
No man has won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same season since Rod Laver did it for the second time 52 years ago.
Alexander Zverev continues his momentum at the US Open
Previously Olympic champion Alexander Zverev extended his winning streak to 12 matches after ousting Sam Querrey and moving on to the second round.
The fourth seed proved too good for the American in the comfortable opening 6-4 7-5 6-2 victory.
The German is seen as a major threat to seed Djokovic after upsetting the Serbian at the Tokyo Games.
Zverev derailed Djokovic’s hopes of becoming the first man to win a gold slam – all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic title in the same year – when he defeated the world No.1 on the way to the gold medal in Tokyo.
Zverev – who lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem – continued his Olympic victory by continuing his winning streak, winning the recent hard-court title in Cincinnati.
“Novak is chasing history,” Zverev said.
“But I think the guys are going to try to block that and I can’t wait to maybe give him a challenge as well.
“I hope that in two weeks I will be on an 18 game winning streak.”
Zverev said Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in the French and Australian Open finals respectively, were two of the world No.1’s potential challengers.
But he was quick to remind reporters of his own victory over Djokovic in Tokyo on his way to Olympic gold.
“I was the first person to beat him on hard or turf this season, and I was also the only person to beat him in a very, very big event this year,” he said. declared.
“I hope I can maintain the level and maybe even play better, because beating Novak here is going to be an extremely difficult task.”
with PAA
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