While the surface was different, the principle is the same – he has beaten Djokovic once and knows what it takes.
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The Big Four have won 42 of the past 46 Grand Slam titles dating to the 2005 French Open.
Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic, the 2014 champion and victor in Cincinnati last week, eased past Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 7-5, 6-1. He’s somebody that has been kind of trying to break through as the next generation.
That would be No. 2 seed Andy Murray, riding the wave of his recent victories in Wimbledon and Rio de Janeiro.
No. 2 Murray was slated to play his opening match Tuesday night under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
That’s because he apparently suffered a right arm injury again Monday in his four-set victory (6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1) over Jerzy Janowicz of Poland. Gasquet was breathing hard from the middle stages of the match, but he said there was no residual pain from the back injury that cut him down at Wimbledon. Djokovic then pulled out of the event in Cincinnati because of the wrist. “It’s all good; to be honest, I take it day by day”.
“When you are in the moment you don’t feel really anything”.
The fifth-seeded Raonic was treated by a trainer for problems with his left wrist and left thigh during Wednesday’s match and generally looked tired as play went on. Hopefully as the tournament progresses, I’ll reach my peak.
“Tomorrow is a new day”.
“It was overall a good performance especially in the third and fourth”, Djokovic said.
The 26-year-old Dane recovered from 0-4 down in the first set to record a seventh win in eight meetings and third in NY over the ninth-seeded Russian.
“Is not easy to go two months-and-a-half out of competition in the middle of the season without hitting a forehand”, Nadal told reporters.
“Novak wasn’t at his best level, that’s for sure, and he made a lot of mistakes from the beginning”, Vesely said that day.
“The most important thing is that I am here in NY. The most important thing”.
“I need to recover the normal movement with the forehand”.
When play resumed, Djokovic immediately broke the Pole and held serve on way to taking the first set. “But I am in the way”.
Last week, Harrison and his younger sibling Christian, 22, became the first pair of brothers to both qualify for the U.S. Open.
These two have met nine times in the past and Djokovic has won six of those meetings.
“There is no wind”, Nadal said. “With them having wrist problems doesn’t affect my chances of getting to the final”.
“It’s mental maturity, a little bit of stabilization with everything around me that is allowing me to play with a sense of calm and also with excitement”, said Harrison, who turned pro almost a decade ago and reached a top ranking of 43rd in 2012.
Women’s singles: Madison Keys beat Alison Riske 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-2, Dominika Cibulkova beat Magda Linette 6-2 6-3, Garbine Muguruza Blanco beat Elise Mertens 2-6 6-0 6-3, Yulia Putintseva beat Sabine Lisicki 6-16-2, Shelby Rogers beat 27-Sara Errani 6-4 7-6 (3), Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Francesca Schiavone 6-16-2, Caroline Wozniacki beat Taylor Townsend 4-6 6-3 6-4, Angelique Kerber beat Polona Hercog 6-0 1-0 (Hercog retired), Petra Kvitova beat Jelena Ostapenko 7-5 6-3. If you get to play there, it’s quite different.
“I never thought I’d have a year like this”.
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“It was an unfortunate time as I had my momentum going”.
