Novak Djokovic lost the opening set with 1-6 against Jenson Brooksby which left the Serbian very impressed after his comeback win over the young American.
It was shaping up to be the perfect opportunity for another upset at the
US Open. An up and coming teenager playing against the world number one in front of his native crowd famous for being one of the most engaged in the world. And when Brooksby won the opening set with 6-1 many started believing. Djokovic after the match explained the bad start:
“I must say that it wasn’t a great start for me, obviously. Jenson was pumped. He had a clear game plan, was executing well all the shots very efficiently. I was really on the back foot. I didn’t have the rhythm, made a lot of unforced errors and he was reading the play very well for about a set and a half.”
Slow starts are nothing unusual for Djokovic and after he settled in the momentum changed. Djokovic put it like this:
“I think the momentum changed midway through the second set, we played a couple of very long games. I lost my serve but I regrouped to re-break the next game and after that I started hitting more cleanly, hitting through the court. Whenever I needed a serve I found my serve, I hit my spots well, but all in all, it was a very physical battle, a lot of exhausting rallies. Credit to him for his performance tonight. It was fantastic.”
As Djokovic continued to break down Brooksby, Andy Roddick tweeted 'First he takes your legs, then he takes your soul' Djokovic was asked about it after the match and he said:
“Thanks Andy, I take that as a compliment – only the first par. The second part, I don’t take anybody’s soul. Everyone has their soul, we’re all beautiful souls so I appreciate everyone. But I’ll take your legs out, that’s for sure.”