Novak Djokovic shares biggest problem he faces at US Open as angry three-word remark made

Novak Djokovic survived a scare to advance to the third round of the US Open. After losing the first set of his match to world No. 145 Zachary Svajda on Wednesday, the four-time former champion stormed back to win 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 6-1.

But Djokovic wasn't best pleased with his performance. Asked how he was feeling after taking out a tricky young American, he replied: "Not that great." And the world No. 7 got candid about the problems he now faces at the sport's biggest tournaments, like the US Open.

The 24-time Major winner lost a close opening set in 62 minutes, throwing in some costly mistakes in the tiebreak. But he grew into the match, while Svajda appeared to be struggling with cramps or a thigh injury, and got the job done in four sets.

Now through to the third round of the US Open for the 19th time in 19 appearances, Djokovic still believes he can do better.

"Not [feeling] that great, to be honest," he told the crowd on the US Open's biggest showcourt.

"But also credit to Zach for playing some really high-quality tennis. Unfortunate that he obviously struggled with an injury towards the end of the second [set], but kudos to him for staying on the court.

"It was obvious that he couldn't serve as well as he did for a set and half. I wished him all the best at the net, I think he's playing really well."

Coming into the US Open, Djokovic had not played a match since losing the Wimbledon semi-final to Jannik Sinner. He's still expecting to grow into the tournament - but he also knows he will have to battle "wear and tear" if he wants to go deep.

Asked whether he was finding more rhythm with every match he played, the 38-year-old replied: "That's what I'm wanting, that was the case for most of my Grand Slam career, the deeper I go in the tournament, the better I feel about my game.

"Obviously, a little bit different in the last couple of years for me, body-wise. I kind of get wear and tear quicker than I ever used to, so I have to deal with that, a lot of recovery stuff off the court to try and make myself able to perform at the highest level for as many hours as is necessary on the court.

"I've always enjoyed playing on the biggest stages and I want to thank you all for coming out this early in the day. Hopefully you enjoyed yourselves.

Djokovic will hope to improve ahead of his next match where he faces either British No. 2 Cameron Norrie or Francisco Comesana. The Serb suffered a shock defeat in the third round last year, so he can gain some extra ranking points if he makes it into the second week.

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