Novak Djokovic makes it 25 successive wins after Kyle Edmund draws first blood at US Open

[ASFN Admin]

Novak Djokovic, the world No1, has simply forgotten how to lose a tennis match. The British No3 Kyle Edmund rocked him back early on Wednesday at the US Open with some controlled and powerful hitting, but Djokovic bounced off the ropes to record his 25th straight win. There used to be some minor weaknesses in Djokovic’s game. A little shakiness on the forehand, perhaps. A minor vulnerability at the net. But he has smoothed off those tiny rough corners like a carpenter with a patch of sandpaper. Now, more than ever, it is impossible to work out what gameplan you would advise to his opponents. Djokovic had spoken highly of Edmund after the first round. “I had some really good matches against him in the past. At Wimbledon, a tough four-setter a few years ago.” And the way the top seed came out suggested he was a little concerned about the destructive potential of Edmund’s “fearhand” – as the coach and commentator Brad Gilbert likes to call it. Rather than establishing his usual stingy rhythm from the back of the court, Djokovic tried to mix it up with half-a-dozen drop shots in the first few games. But Edmund was sharp in his response, driving forward with power and pace to pick up most of these short balls and drive them back with interest. Perhaps Djokovic’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic, had suggested that Edmund was vulnerable in the forecourt. Or maybe Djokovic himself was trying to preserve his legs for later in the fortnight. Either way, Edmund delivered enough piledrivers to stay in the set – including one winner up the line that was clocked at exactly 100mph, a rarity for a groundstroke – and then clinched the tie-break with an ace down the ‘T’. Remarkably, it was Djokovic’s 11th tie-break of 2020, and the first one he had lost.

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