Novak Djokovic's first match at the 2024 US Open came fairly late in the schedule, and while he wasn't happy with it, he had to make the most of it, and he did by winning.
Djokovic's match was the second one at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as part of the night session, which begins at 7 p.m. local time. It's not the ideal time for him because he prefers to play matches earlier.
The 37-year-old has a dedicated routine, which has him wind down from a day fairly early and go to bed early as well. When he has a late match like this, he can't really do that, and it throws his rhyhtm off.
He was getting ready to get onto the court at around 8:15 p.m., but the previous match extended quite a bit. Sloane Stephens was facing Clara Burel and was up 6-0, 3-0, and serving, making Djokovic think he would play soon.
He wouldn't because the American lost that big lead in the second set, which sent the match into a third set that proved to be quite long, as Stephens shockingly lost that match 6-3, 5-7, 5-7.
Djokovic stepped onto the court almost two hours later than expected, which wasn't ideal. It was almost 10 p.m., and his intent was to keep it brief, as he detailed after the match.
"Well, I don't think that aging helps really staying so late and playing very late. I can feel, you know, my batteries are low now. I'm shutting down. But it's been a long wait, to be honest."
"I thought I'm going to go out on the court, like, 8:15 p.m. because Stephens was 6-Love, 3-Love serving and then all of a sudden it turns out to be a two and a half hour match or whatever. Yeah, you just have to accept it, I guess."
Djokovic was very aggressive and attacked Radu Albot at every chance, which resulted in the two opening sets ending 6-2 and 6-2. He won the final set 6-4 as he struggled to break his opponent's serve more than once.
He still kept the match relatively short, avoiding a post-midnight finish. Even with his grievances about late finishes, Djokovic enjoys the night session.
It's a special feeling to play the night session on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, but he prefers to be the first match because it allows him to finish the match at a more decent time. Finishes like this one, close to midnight, are generally something he tries to avoid.
"Those are the instances where you're scheduled second after 7:00, 7:30 or whatever the start was. I like playing night matches, but I love to start first. So, yeah, hopefully I get more chances to play at night and am scheduled first so we can start at a more decent time and finish at a more decent time."
"I guess for the fans there is something special about this late-night finishes, particularly post-midnight. For us I don't know. It's not really what you want, but, you know, if you get a W, then it's all good."
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