One down, six to go. Novak Djokovic moved a step closer to his twin goals of completing the calendar-year grand slam and winning a record 21st major, but a curious opening-round win over Holger Rune at the US Open raised as many questions about his assault on the record books as it answered. In a match that fell into three distinct phases, Djokovic touched perfection in the opening set, wobbled alarmingly in the second, and finally coasted home with plenty to spare as Rune, a spirited 18-year-old Dane making his grand slam debut, fell victim to a debilitating attack of cramp.
It was a cruel way for Rune’s challenge to end on a night when the youngster won over the New York crowd with the vivacious abandon of his play, animated fist-pumping, and stoic refusal to forfeit the match in the face of crippling pain. But while a bright future beckons for the young Dane, what is to come for Djokovic over the next two weeks remains unclear.
Beaten in his two most recent matches, against Alexander Zverev and Pablo Carreno Busta at the Olympics, there was never any real possibility of Djokovic suffering a third successive defeat against a teenage qualifier ranked 145 in the world. And if the Serb can replicate the imperious level on display during a first-set masterclass in which he made a remarkable 100% of his returns and struck the ball with breath-taking cleanness and precision, the first men’s grand slam in over half a century is very much on. But if his focus slips, as it did here, against an opponent of greater experience, things could get complicated.
The big question is, what caused Djokovic to go off the boil? Was it simply a lapse a concentration? Did the enormity of what is at stake get to him? Or is he carrying some kind of physical impediment? Djokovic said after the Olympics that he had been suffering from “more than one” injury, and there were moments against Rune when he seemed to be trying to loosen his shoulder, a joint that has troubled him in the past.
Perhaps his most pressing concern, on a night when Rune electrified a packed and raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium with the intensity, boldness and imagination of his play, was the crowd’s failure to get behind him. Djokovic’s relationship with the rowdy New York throng has long been a tricky one, an issue that dates back to a prickly encounter with former home favourite Andy Roddick in 2008. Here, his opponent’s enterprise spawned a new battle cry – and Djokovic did not take kindly to the chants of “Ruuuuune!” that echoed around the stadium, which he misinterpreted as booing.
“I didn’t know what they were chanting, honestly,” said Djokovic. “I thought they were booing. I don’t know. It was not ideal atmosphere for me. But I’ve been in these particular atmospheres before, so I knew how to handle it.
“You always wish to have crowd behind you, but it’s not always possible. That’s all I can say. I don’t know. I’ve been focusing on myself and what I need to do. I guess I have to just see how it feels on the court, and try to keep it together.”
For a set, Djokovic did a good deal more than just keep it together.
After winning two successive Challenger Tour events and then making it through qualifying, Rune came into the match on a 13-match winning streak. There were plenty of moments to savour from the Dane, whose early highlights included a stunning backhand winner in the opening game and a selection of whipped crosscourt passes off either wing that offered an indication of why he is a former junior world No 1.
Djokovic, however, who knew something of Rune’s game after playing a couple of practice sessions with the teenager in Monte Carlo five months ago, was fully in command – of the occasion, his opponent and his own game. Stroking the ball into the corners, volleying immaculately and winning his service games at a canter, Djokovic looked every inch the champion-elect.
The second set began in a different vein, however. Smart enough to recognise the need to change tack, Rune came out swinging, punching away a backhand volley and slamming a forehand winner to create the platform for an early hold. His boldness seemed to disconcert Djokovic, who double-faulted at 0-30 in the next game and then saw a thumping forehand fizz past him as he was broken for the first time. Could Rune consolidate the hold? Indeed he could – to love, no less.
Djokovic, of course, had been here before. In the opening round at Wimbledon he had faced another free-swinging 18-year-old in the shape of Britain’s Jack Draper, who won the first set before the Serb took control. When the top seed reeled off the next four games, history looked set to repeat itself.
But another lapse of concentration from Djokovic, who conceded the break with a pair of double faults and a missed forehand, allowed Rune back into the contest, and from here the world No 1 began to look rattled. Puffing his cheeks, shaking his head and muttering darkly to himself, Djokovic quickly fell 4-0 behind in the ensuing tiebreak, his discontent compounded by another flurry of mistakes. He would end the set with five double faults and 15 unforced errors.
Rune’s physical deterioration ensured an anticlimactic conclusion to the match. Djokovic embraced victory with magnanimity, gifting his stricken opponent a game at 5-0 in the fourth set to avoid the whitewash, and later acknowledged the fortitude shown by Rune.
“It’s an emotional moment for him,” said Djokovic, who will now play Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, a surprise five-set winner over Jan-Lennard Struff. “It’s not easy to see that. He’s really sad. I understand that. I’ve been through that. I just told him that he handled himself extremely well. He didn’t want to stop. I thought he’s going to stop the end of the third. He just kept going with dignity, finished off the match. He deserved, definitely, my respect, the respect of a lot of people. He’s still very, very young, 18 years old. He’s got plenty of time ahead of him. I’m sure we’re going to see a lot of him in the future.”
As Djokovic inched closer to history, Rune could only rue the physical frailties that cost him the chance to extend his feted opponent further. “Unfortunately my fitness let me down,” admitted the Dane. “I started cramping already in the beginning of the third set. From there on was tough. I knew if I had to win, I really had to fight for every point. With my body at this point, it was impossible.”