Novak Djokovic is one of the top contenders at any and every tournament he participates in. That is the case once again at the U.S. Open, tennis’ last major of the season. However, his dominance at major tournaments may be in jeopardy.
That’s because he apparently suffered a right arm injury again Monday in his four-set victory (6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1) over Jerzy Janowicz of Poland. The second-set loss was the first set dropped by Djokovic in the first round of a major tournament since 2010.
One could easily tell the right arm injury was bothering him even after treatment, as his serve was clocked at only 100 mph — or about 25 mph less than his usual average.
After the match, Djokovic continued to deflect questions after reporters had previously questioned him about getting treatment the day before his opening appearance at the U.S. Open. This time it happened during an on-court interview with ESPN and rather than be boring, he broke out in song and dance:
.@DjokerNole does his best @PhilCollinsFeed impression as he closes out his Opening Night on Ashe. 🎤🎤 #usopen https://t.co/9x0FgNeyoM
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2016
Hey, at least he didn’t go all Marshawn Lynch on us, right? With at least one more match guaranteed for the world’s No. 1 player, it will be interesting to see how creative he gets about those health questions the rest of the way.
Djokovic is scheduled for a second round matchup against Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, who took five sets to dispose of Saketh Mynei of India in his first round matchup.
