Novak Djokovic brushed aside resistance of Holger Rune in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night as he defeated teenager by 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1, to start his charge for a perfect Grand Slam season at US Open.
The 18-year-old Dane produced some spirited tennis in the second set as he took the second set away from the world number one in a fine fashion. Aside from that second-set heroics, Holger just wasn't able to capture any chances against Djokovic as the Serbian has now moved six victories from capturing all four Grand Slams in a calendar year.
With this win, the Serb, a three-time champion at the US Open, improves to 76-12 lifetime in Flushing Meadows and snaps the 13-match winning streak of the rising Rune in the process. Novak will now face Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor in the second-round clash.
"I just told him that he handled himself extremely well," Djokovic said of his post-match conversation with Rune, as per usopen.org. "He didn't want to stop. I thought he's going to stop at 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."
( With inputs from ANI )
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