Novak Djokovic shakes off rust for sloppy win to start US Open after nearly six-week break

It has been roughly six weeks since Novak Djokovic played a competitive singles match.

Rather than take part in warmup hard-court events ahead of the U.S. Open, the 24-time major champion gave himself a breather, using the break to spend time with family and prepare for the final grand slam of 2025.

He looked like someone with some rust, struggling at times against unranked American teenager Learner Tien in a 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night.

He committed four double-faults and 34 unforced errors, miscues that could hurt him against a better opponent.

“I really was surprised how bad I was feeling in the second [set] physically,” said the seventh-seeded Djokovic, who was treated for a blister on his big toe early in the third set. “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. I’m glad that I kind of reset myself after [the] second set. And the third one was — the third set was OK to finish up the match.

“There are positives but also things that hopefully won’t happen in terms of, like, 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.”

Not at his best, Djokovic still did enough to advance without much drama.

It took him just 24 minutes to wrap up the first set, then Tien and his big groundstrokes gave Djokovic plenty of problems in the second.

Djokovic needed to fight off four break points to stay in the set, eventually finding a way in the tiebreak after initially trailing by a mini-break.

The third set was like the first, quick and mostly easy, the former world’s No. 1 wearing down his young opponent.

“It was a strange kind of match. The first set was 20 minutes, and then the second one was one hour and 20, so quite the opposite sets we played,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview after improving to 19-0 in the first round in Flushing. “It was key for me to hold my nerves in the second set and clinch it in a tie-break. After that, I started feeling better. I can always do better, but it’s a great way to start this year’s campaign.”

Prior to the start of the U.S. Open, Djokovic said his plan moving forward is just to play in the four majors because those tournaments are what motivate him and give him joy at the age of 38.

It remains to be seen if his time off ahead of this tournament will help him get back on top, and win his first major since claiming his fourth U.S. Open crown in 2023.