Djokovic battles past Svajda as Kostyuk, Raducanu move ahead

Novak Djokovic battled past American qualifier Zachary Svajda in four sets on Wednesday to reach the US Open third round for a record-equalling 19th time.

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The 38-year-old Djokovic dropped the first set but recovered to win 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 and stay in the hunt for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title.

"I wasn't really happy about my tennis for the first part of the match but also credit to Zach for playing some high quality tennis," said Djokovic.

The Serbian star admitted to feeling "not that great" after a laboured performance but is optimistic he will gradually find his rhythm.

"That's what I'm hoping, the deeper I go into the tournament the better I feel about my game," he said.

"Obviously a bit different for me the last couple of years body-wise. I get the wear and tear quicker than I used to do.'

Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen's US Open campaign ground to a halt on Wednesday with a comprehensive second-round defeat to Britain’s Emma Raducanu.

Tjen upset Russian 24th seed Veronika Ku-dermetova on Sunday after becoming the first Indonesian to play in the main singles draw of a Grand Slam since 2004.

But any hopes of a sustained giant-killing run at Flushing Meadows evaporated in a 6-2, 6-1 defeat to 2021 US Open champion Raducanu at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.