Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic moved on to the US Open third round  following an early retirement by fellow countryman Laslo Djere. Djokovic, the tournament’s second seed, was leading 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 when Djere retired under the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof.

Djere had a crucial chance to turn the match around at 4-2 in the second set when he held two break points, which could have allowed him to serve for the set. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old was unable to capitalize on this opportunity and did not win another game. Djere called for a medical timeout before serving at 4-5, receiving treatment for an abdominal injury before ultimately retiring from the match.

‘It’s not what we want. It’s not what the crowd wants, to see a walkover,’ Djokovic said. ‘But he obviously had an injury that took him out of the Tour for some time and he is struggling to come back physically to this level. He’s such a good player, especially in these conditions. It should’ve been his second set, honestly. It was 4-2, 15/40.

‘Overall, it was a big fight. Over two hours for two sets. I served awful. So playing without the serve, you have to grind, you have to run. So I guess I had to rely on my baseline game.’

Magnificent Djokovic

The Serbian star has made history as the first male player to secure 90 victories at each of the four Grand Slam tournaments. With this milestone, he is now just eight wins away from equaling Jimmy Connors’ record for the most US Open match wins.

For the second year in a row, Djokovic squared off against Laslo Djere at Flushing Meadows. In their previous encounter, Djokovic came back from a two-set deficit to win the championship. Djere remains the only player to have won a set against Djokovic at last year’s US Open.