Novak Djokovic is set to participate in the US Open for the first time in 2 years and former WTA #4 Johanna Konta believes the ‘crowd support’ could play a role for the Serb in winning a historic 24th Grand Slam title.
The Serbian missed the Flushing Meadows in 2022 because of his non-vaccinated status but a rule change in May paved the way for the 3-time titlist at New York hardcourts to return this year. Djokovic is entering the US Open with a title under his belt as he beat 2023 Wimbledon Champion Alcaraz to earn his 3rd Cincinnati Open trophy.
The 36-year old’s triumph at Western and Southern Open bears resemblance to his victorious Australian Open run this year where he bagged the Adelaide International before eventually clinching a record extending 10th Australian Open title. Konta suggests the 23-time Grand Slam Champion is in a good position to secure the season-ending slam.
“I think it’ll be absolutely fine. I think he’s faced those situations where in Australia, he wasn’t able to be in Australia last year either,” Konta told Express Sport.
She continued, “So I think it’s not going to be anything that he hasn’t come up against in this season and just the difficulties that he’s faced over the last couple of years with his restrictions. So I think overall I think he will just deal with it like the professional he is.”
The legendary hardcourt maestro received lots of support during his US Open final loss to Daniil Medvedev back in 2021 where he was just one match away from completing the coveted Calendar Slam mile stone, and former British #1 believes that he crowd support could spur the Serb’s historic run for the 24th Grand Slam title.
“I think he loves it when the crowd is for him and bless him he’s probably one of the few players that doesn’t always get that crowd support that maybe he deserves and that he probably wants,” claims Konta. “So I think that when the crowd is for him, I do think he gives them a lot of positive energy so I’d like to think that it would help him on his conquest for 24.”
World No. 2 will know about his R1 opponent at the New York major once the draw is revealed on Thursday. As he plans to extend his biggest title lead, Djokovic would also be playing to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 major singles. He holds 81-13 (86%) win-loss record at the New York hardcourts.