Four-time US Open champion Novak Djokovic advanced to the third round on Wednesday when his opponent retired in the third set. Djokovic, seeded second in New York, was leading 6-4 6-4 2-0 when fellow Serbian Laslo Djere was forced to retire with an apparent abdominal injury.
But Djokovic described his serve as “terrible” as he had to regain momentum after winning the first set.
Djere led 4-2 in the second set and had two break points before losing the next four games. He then took a medical timeout late in the second set and failed to win any of the eight points contested in the third set before taking it out.
“That’s not what we want,” Djokovic said. “It’s not what the public wants, a walkover. But he obviously had an injury that took him out of the tour for a while and he’s struggling to come back physically to this level.
“He’s such a good player, especially in these conditions. It should have been his second set, honestly. It was 4-2, 15-40.
“Overall it was a big battle. More than two hours for two sets. I served terribly. So when you play without the serve, you have to grind, you have to run. So I think I had to rely on my baseline game.”
Djokovic now faces Australian Alexei Popyrin, number 28. He defeated Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-2 6-4 6-0.
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