Djokovic Admits Cincinnati Final Forced Him To Change US Open Plans

| by Nurein Ahmed

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic revealed how the energy-sapping Cincinnati Masters final match against Carlos Alcaraz last Sunday made him tweak his schedule ahead of the 2023 US Open.

Djokovic spoke during a practice session inside Arthur Ashe Stadium while hitting tennis balls, and gave tennis fans an insight into what the aftermath of his breathtaking win over Alcaraz entailed, which included a couple of days off.

The match, which lasted close to four hours pushed Djokovic to his highest ceiling of endurance, and the Serbian star stated that he needed to step away from the tennis courts in order to recover and recharge his batteries.

Djokovic explained that he was scheduled to resume practice on Tuesday this week, which would have been 48 hours since his epic win, but had to abandon those plans and instead switched to a different sport, going to New Jersey to play golf.

"I had a couple of days off and didn’t play tennis because I really needed that. The tournament in Cincinnati went all the way through for me and I had that gruelling four-hour match with Carlos. I had some practice sessions arranged for Tuesday, but we decided to modify the schedule and change things around."

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"I played some golf in New Jersey, took some time off and I’m ready to go. Best of five matches coming up and hopefully seven matches over the next two weeks. I’m going to get ready for it. Now I am getting used to the conditions in here (in New York) and we have lots of different things coming up in the next few days.

Djokovic is in fine fettle ahead of his first match at the US Open since 2021. The 36-year-old admits he is feeding off the energy and positive vibes from an exuberant New York crowd as he aims to win a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam title.

"I am collecting the vibe from New York City. There is no better city to give you energy in the world and hopefully I can do that for the next few weeks."

In his pre-tournament press conference, the 36-year-old Serb admitted that he also got to enjoy playing at the Times Square during a special exhibition event.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to have fun. As I said, staying in the city, the city gives you a lot of energy to some point. I'm really enjoying myself. waterdrop has organized the great event yesterday at the Times Square. It was the first time I played tennis at the Times Square. It was fun with kids from one of the local tennis clubs."

"There's so much to do and so much to see. Obviously you have to balance it well with your commitments here on-site, training and preparing and recovering."

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