NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic dispelled his reputation as a quitter after battling his way through five gruelling sets in scorching heat to win his first round match at the U.S. Open yesterday.
The world number three looked to be heading for an early exit when he fell two sets to one and a service break behind fellow Serb Viktor Troicki when he somehow summoned up the strength to fight back and win 6-3 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-3.
His incredible performance came on a day when organisors invoked the tournament’s rarely used extreme weather policy and spectators fled the Flushing Meadows stands to seek refuge in the shade from the blazing sun.
For most of the match, Djokovic was soaked in sweat and gasping for air and playing an opponent showing no signs of weariness. It was only in the fifth set, when the sun began to set and Troicki started to wilt, that relief finally came.
“It was like, I don’t know, sleeping with my girlfriend I guess kind of feeling,” Djokovic told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic made the U.S. Open final in 2007 then won the Australian Open the following year but was heavily criticised for retiring because of heat illness during his Melbourne Park defense then withdrawing from Wimbledon complaining of a blister on his toe.
Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova needed all their fighting qualities to overcome the blistering temperatures and fired-up opponents to reach the second round of a championship that became a battle of survival.
Jankovic, a finalist in New York in 2008, fought back from the brink of defeat to beat Romanian Simona Halep 6-4 4-6 7-5 after Kuznetsova, champion in 2004 and runner-up in 2007, worked overtime to beat Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm 6-2 4-6 6-1.
Jankovic, seeded fourth, and Kuznetsova, seeded 11th, both struggled to produce their best on a day when temperatures soared to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius).
“It was pretty hot,” Jankovic said. “It’s not easy to play in these kind of conditions. You have to just try your best.”
