Novak Djokovic got incredibly close to losing at the 2023 US Open to Laslo Djere, but eventually he avoided an upset.
Without a doubt, the 36-year-old is one of the two biggest favourites to win this year's last major. According to his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic's draw opened up, but that seemed to be far from the truth when the Serb played against fellow compatriot Laslo Djere.
The two met once before, on clay in Belgrade, and it went all the way, with Djokovic coming back from a set and a break down, to win in the third-set tie-break. This time, the three-time US Open champion had to go all the way once again, but it was the fifth set that decided.
In the first two sets, the 32nd seed just played great, and he certainly wasn't beaten before he stepped onto the court. He didn't allow Djokovic to pressure him, but what was most important was the fact that Djere used almost all of the chances that were presented to him, and thanks to that, he won the first two sets 6-4, 6-4.
Despite having a 2-0 lead, Djere surely knew that when facing one of the most successful tennis players to be ever born, he could take nothing for granted, and that proved to be true in the following sets.
Djokovic won the third set 6-1, and he continued in a similar manner also in the fourth set, taking the match into the decider. Eventually, Djokovic was able to win the match in five sets 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, but he certainly came closer to losing than he expected in the third round.
After the match, the Serb had only words of praise for his compatriot, who likely played the best match of his life, and if it wasn't a Grand Slam, but some ATP 1000 tournament in a best-of-three format, he would have beaten the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
"Well, I would say two different matches, the first two sets, then the last three. Scoreline maybe doesn't do justice for the third and fourth. I think it was much closer than 6-1, 6-1. I thought he played terrific. I mean, I honestly have never seen him play like this. He was feeling the ball extremely well. Everything was kind of in his striking zone. He was tactically prepared very well."
In the next round, Djokovic will take on another tricky opponent, as Borna Gojo from Croatia is having the best tournament of his life, and the Croatian will attempt to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinals.
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