World No.1 Novak Djokovic said a heated exchange with a member of the public at the US Open helped him in his latest match at the tournament.
The defending champion eased to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, win over Denis Kudla in what was a late-night encounter. During the clash, Djokovic won 81% of the points behind his first serve and saved all seven break points he faced. Ending the match with 34 winners against 31 unforced errors, which was better than his opponents tally of 25 and 26.
”I’m very glad with the way it went,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I want to thank everyone for staying this late and supporting both of us players.”
However, the talking point involving the Serbian was his pre-match spat with a fan during his practice session. Video footage circulated on social media of him speaking with the unidentified member of the public. It is unclear as to what was said to Djokovic, but he was heard saying to the fan through the fence ‘”I’ll come find you. I’ll come find you afterwards, trust me, I’ll come find you.”
Oh wow.. Djokovic getting into a tiff with one of the fans in the middle of his warm-up. Not happy with something that was said. @BenRothenberg @bgtennisnation pic.twitter.com/cAXeMpj6s0
— Sridhar Natarajan (@sridinats) August 31, 2019
Questioned about the incident during his press conference, the 16-time grand slam champion was reluctant to go into details about what happened. Saying the two ‘just had a little chat.’ When pressed further about what he said he wanted to find him to ‘To have a drink. I liked the guy. I’m going to buy him a drink.’
Whilst the details are limited, there is one thing that was for certain. The incident fired Djokovic up ahead of his third round meeting at Flushing Meadows. Whether the fan intended for that to happen or not.
“We’ll keep [what he said] between us. … But he definitely helped me. He doesn’t even know, but he did help me,” Djokovic said. “I’m not going to talk about it. I think he did me a favour. Even maybe he didn’t want to do me a favour, he did me a favour, big favour.”
Djokovic has been suffering from a shoulder injury in recent days and fears has been raised over how his body would hold up as the tournament progressed. However, those concerns have been eased thanks to his latest win. Although he is still suffering from some degree of pain. Prompting him to miss a practice session on Thursday.
“It’s almost pain-free. Has a little bit of pain, but I’m really pleased with the way it went.” He explained.
“I’m very glad with the way it went. I am able to play. That for me is a huge blessing today because it was probably the complete opposite two days ago.”
In the fourth round Djokovic will take on fellow grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka. Wawrinka defeated Paolo Lorenmzi in his third round match. In their head-to-head, Djokovic leads 19-5. It will be their first meeting since the 2016 US Open final.
