Novak Djokovic was cruising along with a big early lead in his US Open fourth-round match on Sunday night when his neck started bothering him.
That didn’t stop Djokovic from dominating 144th-ranked qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his record-extending 64th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Djokovic has now reached the quarterfinals at every major in a year for the ninth time in his career, breaking a tie with Roger Federer for the most of any man or woman in the Open era.
At 38 years old, Djokovic is the oldest player to reach the US Open quarterfinals since Jimmy Connors, who turned 39 during the 1991 tournament. Djokovic is the oldest quarterfinalist at any major since 39-year-old Federer at 2021 Wimbledon.
“What gives me a lot of encouragement right now, and positivity, is the way I played tonight,” Djokovic said. “Best performance of the tournament so far. Hopefully I can keep that going.”
Djokovic was ahead 4-0, 15-love when he hit a nicely angled volley winner to go up 30-love in that game. The 24-time Grand Slam champion immediately grabbed at the back of his neck and started turning his head.
The 38-year-old Djokovic kept trying to stretch his neck or flex his right shoulder between points, and he went on to drop that game and the next one, too. But he soon regained the upper hand against Struff, who beat Frances Tiafoe in the previous round and was trying to get to a major quarterfinal for the first time.
After improving to 8-0 against Struff, Djokovic now carries a 10-0 head-to-head record into his quarterfinal on Tuesday against 2024 US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz.
ESPN
