Novak Djokovic is on a mission to expend as little energy as possible at the US Open after a hectic summer, and the defending champion barely broke sweat again as he cruised into the third round on Friday.
Djokovic saw off Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-2, 6-1m 6-2 on Arthur Ashe Stadium and has lost only seven games in two matches so far, spending less than three hours on court.
While his first match against Paolo Lorenzi was in the night session on Tuesday, Friday’s clash was played in extremely hot conditions.
Djokovic has reached at least the semi-finals at the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics, while he went into this tournament on the back of victory in Toronto and a final appearance in Cincinnati.
The Serb said: “It was different conditions today obviously from the first match I played. I didn’t know much about my opponent, I’d never seen him play.
“So that could have been a difficulty at the start in order to figure out what his game plan is. But I played well from the start to the end.
“Obviously I want to spend as little time as possible on the court. I have played a lot of tennis, a lot of matches, through the course of this summer.
“I had also two long weeks on hard courts in Toronto and Cincinnati, so the lack of matches is not something that is worrying me. Actually, I just want to focus and try to win in straight sets every match that I play.”
Djokovic also gave his reaction to Andy Roddick’s announcement that he will retire after the tournament, praising the 30-year-old’s contribution to the sport.
“Andy’s situation just shows how quickly everything can turn around,” said Djokovic. “But I listened to his press conference yesterday, I admire his career.
“He was one of the greatest competitors around, probably the biggest server ever. I’m sure that he’s proud of his career, and all American tennis should be. I guess he felt that it’s time for him to move on, to stop playing tennis, and to do something else.
“The great thing that he said yesterday is that he wants to continue on his legacy of playing tennis and try to transfer that knowledge to somebody that is coming up and that needs help from such a champion.
“So that’s great. You want to share the love for the sport and your knowledge and experiences with somebody else that wants to become like you.”
Fourth seed David Ferrer continued his straightforward progress through the draw with a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6, (14/12) victory over Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling.
The Spaniard has been elevated into the top four in the absence of his injured countryman Rafael Nadal but is going about his business very much under the radar.
Seventh seed Juan Martin Del Potro is seeded to meet Djokovic in the quarter-finals and he shrugged off the loss of the third set to beat America’s Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
Del Potro next meets his fellow Argentinian Leonardo Mayer, who ended the grand slam comeback of Tommy Robredo with a 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory.
Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt, the US Open champion in 2001, played the 49th five-set match of his career, beating Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4.
The 31-year-old said: “These are the tournaments that still motivate me. This is why I’m still playing, to play grand slams. It was a great atmosphere out there, especially the fifth set today. The crowd support that I got was great.”
Hewitt has struggled with injuries in recent years and, with his ranking at only 125, needed a wild card to get in, but he has no intention of following Andy Roddick and former girlfriend Kim Clijsters into retirement any time soon.
Hewitt said of Roddick: “He’s been battling some injuries as well, especially the last year or so. He’s obviously fought pretty hard every time he steps on the court. For him, he obviously just felt like the time is right.
“Everyone is different. For me, I feel like I’ve done all the hard yards coming back from surgery. I want to go out on my terms a little bit more.”
Swiss 18th seed Stanislas Wawrinka has played 86 matches in grand slams, 32 of which have gone to a fifth set, and he overcame an ailing Steve Darcis 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
In the next round Wawrinka will play 14th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, who also had a tough time against Marcos Baghdatis before coming through 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6, (7/5).
Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic and ninth seed John Isner remained on course for a fourth-round meeting as Tipsarevic put out American comeback kid Brian Baker in straight sets while Isner needed four sets to beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
