With his return to the U.S. Open, Novak Djokovic will once again hold the top spot in the rankings.
Djokovic triumphed over Alexandre Muller on Monday night in his tournament comeback after missing it the previous year due to injury.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner had to wait until Coco Gauff’s three-set victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was followed by a ceremony to celebrate 50 years of equal prize money at the U.S. Open.
I understood it would be a late night for me and a late start to the game, Djokovic said. “However, I must admit that I was eager to play on the court. I didn’t care if I started after midnight because I had been anticipating this day for a few years: playing the night session in the biggest, loudest arena in our sport.
Due to his lack of a COVID-19 vaccination, Djokovic was denied entry to the United States last year. After losing to Daniil Medvedev in the 2021 final, which prevented the Serbian from completing the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969, he played his first match in Flushing Meadows on Monday.
Before Muller finally scored, the No. 2 seed won the first eight games and the first set in just 23 minutes. Muller raised his arms in celebration after narrowing the deficit to 2-1 in the second set.
“I believe the performance, especially in the opening two sets, explains how I felt tonight. “The first set was almost flawless tennis, kind of lights-out tennis,” remarked Djokovic. I most likely knew the response to each shot he had in his arsenal.
At the U.S. Open, Djokovic increased his perfect record to 17 in first-round matches and guaranteed he would reclaim the top spot on September 11. Djokovic didn’t have any ranking points to defend from last year’s inability to compete, so all he needed to do to reclaim the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz was advance to the second round. Djokovic’s record-extending 390th week at the top of the rankings will be reached this week.