For half an hour and a full set at the beginning , then one particularly compelling and competitive game later, Novak Djokovic’s opponent within the U.S. Open’s fourth round, Jenson Brooksby, gave him fits and created a raucous atmosphere under the lights at Ashe Stadium.
That let Djokovic, above all, and everybody else, too, know that Brooksby — a 20-year-old wild-card entry from California who is ranked 99th and never before had been on this type of stage — belonged. And then, not surprisingly, Djokovic showed why he’s who he’s and the way he’s managed to maneuver within three victories of the primary calendar-year slam in men’s tennis in 52 years.
Settling in and sending messages, to the fans with roars and to Brooksby with some staredowns, No. 1 Djokovic improved to 25-0 in majors this year by winning 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Monday night. He extended his pursuit of a real Slam and a record-breaking 21st major championship while also eliminating the last American singles player within the tournament It is the primary time within the history of an occasion that dates to the 1880s that no man or woman from the host country reached the quarterfinals.
One key to the turnaround by Djokovic, nearly as good a returner as there is: He broke in Brooksby’s initial service game in each of the last three sets Perhaps suffering from the physical nature of the extended exchanges, Brooksby was visited by a trainer after the second set and again after the third. Still, for somebody who never had set foot on Ashe’s blue court until about two hours before the match, when he got an opportunity to practice there, Brooksby never seemed overwhelmed by the setting or the circumstances.
“A very young, very talented player,” Djokovic said. “I told him at internet a bright future is before him.”
His 6-foot-4 strides and reach, his anticipation, his variety including a well-disguised backhand slice, his think-steps-ahead point construction, his commitment to patterns involved by his coach reception in Sacramento since age 7, Joe Gilbert — all left Djokovic a tad discombobulated early.
“It wasn’t an excellent start on behalf of me . Obviously, Jenson was pumped. He had a transparent game plan. He was executing all the shots efficiently. i used to be on my back foot,” said Djokovic, who is trying to be the primary man since Laver in 1969 to win all four Slam trophies in one year and also getting to eclipse the men’s mark of 20 career majors he shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. “He was reading the play alright .”
In the first set, Brooksby made one unforced error, Djokovic 11. And Brooksby won 14 of the points that lasted five strokes or more, Djokovic four.
When Djokovic netted an overhead to maneuver Brooksby two points from the set, most of the spectators within the 23,000-plus-capacity arena — excited to be back after last year’s ban on audiences amid the pandemic — rose, clapping and screaming.
When Djokovic missed a return to cede that set to his foe, Brooksby waved both arms and heard more loud support Electric. Awesome. I enjoyed it. i actually did,” said Djokovic, who soon would be hearing his own cheers. “You guys gave both of the players tons of energy.”
He broke to travel up 2-0 within the second set and punched the air and shouted. At 3-1 arrived an epic game: six break chances, nice deuces, 24 points altogether , opened up over nearly 20 minutes. Djokovic pushed the ball into internet to finish that game and make it 3-2, prompting Brooksby to hop and jump and windmill his arm and cry, “Let’s go!”
And then, quick as are often , Djokovic regrouped. With Brooksby gasping for air, Djokovic broke right back and, in time , the result was clear The momentum,” declared Djokovic, a 34-year-old from Serbia, “was changed He next meets No. 6 Matteo Berrettini of Italy during a rematch of the Wimbledon final,
The other quarterfinals on the men’s side: No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany vs. Lloyd Harris of South Africa , No. 12 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada vs. 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, and No. 2 Daniil Medevev of Russia vs. qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp of Netherlands .
The women’s round-of-eight matchups: No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus vs. No. 8 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic , No. 5 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine vs. 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada, No. 11 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland vs. 18-year-old qualifier Emma Raducanu of england , and No. 4 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic against 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada or No. 17 Maria Sakkari of Greece.
Brooksby’s exit — certainly no shame in losing to Djokovic, in fact — followed the fourth-round departures earlier Monday by No. 22 seed Reilly Opelka from the men’s draw with a 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 loss to Harris, and by unseeded Shelby Rogers from the women’s draw with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Raducanu.
Rogers upset Ash Barty, a two-time major champion who is ranked No. 1, within the third round, but was unable to supply an equivalent level of tennis in what she termed a “pretty embarrassing” performance Monday.