Woodbridge: Djokovic benefits from unusual first week

Novak Djokovic arrived at the fourth round of the US Open having played just one complete match.

After beating Jerzy Janowicz in four sets in the opening round, he was given a walkover in round two when Jiri Vesely withdrew, while in his third round match, opponent Mikhail Youzhny retired with injury after just six games of the first set.

Many people have reacted to Djokovic’s progression by saying: ‘oh, this is not good.’ But that’s ridiculous. For him, it’s the best scenario that could possibly happen. He’ll go into the core matches fresher and fitter than anyone.

The US Open is the most brutal of the slams. We’ve seen that in the first week – people fall like flies, struggling with heat exhaustion and other physical issues.

There’s a lot more stress in New York in terms of getting to the courts, dealing with the people, and the environment. The tournament comes off the back of a long season – there’s been Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US summer, the Olympics. Players’ batteries are on 50 per cent or lower coming in. And then there’s the crowd – you don’t play well and the crowd go at you, they yell at and abuse you.

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The Australian Open doesn’t stress players as much because they come in fresh and the heat is dry and manageable by comparison to the humidity of New York. And you don’t have at Wimbledon the same physicality of heat and a punishing surface.

The US Open, however, throws up many variables at you. I think that creates stresses in different personalities, and we see that in their performance on court. It’s what makes it one of the hardest events to win. You’ll see players hit the wall in New York more than in any other tournament.

But for Djokovic, I look at him and think his situation is perfect. He’s won the US Open before, he’s the No.1 player in the world and he’s confident.

He’s coming off a period in his year where he has had such extreme highs. He’s noted his personal issues, so he’s had stress. And he now is on the verge of coming off his absolute best level. He needs to recharge.

To win this tournament you have to get through matches quickly and have something in reserve. That’s what this unusual situation has provided him. He doesn’t need to worry about match play – he’s had plenty of matches this year. And he’s in good form anyway – he won Toronto just a few weeks ago.

Four days mightn’t be enough recover if you’re in desperate need to recharge, but in a scenario where you could’ve been on the court for seven or eight more hours, it’s an enormous advantage. You’re literally running marathons in men’s tennis at the Grand Slams to win them. So he’s got those hours in reserve that are not there in his legs – that’s massive.

Facing Janowicz first up was tough. The first round of any Grand Slam is always a bit nerve wracking. Particularly if you’re coming up against a player like Janowicz who’s going to bomb serves at you, tee off and give you no rhythm. That’s a horror draw. But he got through that. Did he play his best? No. But you don’t want him to be playing his best at that point.

He probably needed a match to give him some rhythm, and against Kyle Edmund he got that. It was one in which he could test his game and see where he was at. It’s also one he would have wanted to win easily, and to show that he’s in better form. He’s now clearly the favourite again.

You look at Andy Murray, the in-form player with the Wimbledon and Olympic titles. But can he hang on physically? If he just starts to come off his best physical level, then his mental level drops significantly. And Rafa’s gone now too.

So Djokovic will be thinking: I’ve got all these other guys coming at me, but I don’t think they’re in my league yet.