Novak Djokovic admits that he harbours fitness concerns after his 6-1 7-6(3) 6-2 win against America’s Learner Tien in the US Open first round.
The Serb beat Tien in straight sets in his first match since the Wimbledon semi-finals and looked far from rusty.
But after the match, Djokovic claimed that he isn’t all there physically in New York as he chases a record-breaking 25th major.
He said: “I started great. Just over 20 minutes, first set, I felt really good,” he said.
“Then some long games to start the second set, and then I start to feel really…I don’t know why. I really was surprised how bad I was feeling in the second physically.
“Yeah, we had long exchanges, but also, I kind of dropped my level and made a lot of unforced errors and kind of got him back into the match.
“There are positives but also things that hopefully won’t happen in terms of how I feel on the court physically – the way I felt in the second set. Hopefully that doesn’t happen, because then it makes my life on the court definitely much more challenging.”
