Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his third round match against Britain’s Cameron Norrie at the US Open, August 29, 2025. Photo: AFP
Novak Djokovic stayed in the hunt for a record 25th Grand Slam trophy by quickly recovering from a lower back problem to beat unseeded Briton Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-7(4) 6-2 6-3 and reach the fourth round of the US Open.
The 38-year-old's battling victory under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium made him the oldest man to reach the last 16 at Flushing Meadows since American Jimmy Connors managed the feat at the same age in 1991.
In the women's draw, top seed Aryna Sabalenka beat Leylah Fernandez and ninth seed Elena Rybakina eliminated Emma Raducanu, while on the men's side Carlos Alcaraz was far too good for Italian Luciano Darderi and sixth seed Ben Shelton retired from his match with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
The holder of the most Grand Slam titles (24) and match wins (395), Djokovic reached another milestone by surpassing Swiss maestro Roger Federer to become the man with the most hardcourt victories at the majors with his 192nd win.
The four-times New York winner also improved his record against Norrie to 7-0.
"I guess coming into the match, any match, you really want to win in straight sets without any drama and just ease through, but that's not possible," said Djokovic, who is playing in his first event since losing to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon last month.
"My team wants me to suffer on the court so I can get some more minutes spent in match play. It's good that I get tested. I hadn't played any matches since Wimbledon and it's been for us quite a long time, five to six weeks.
"I'm still trying to find my groove and my rhythm on court," added the Serb, who said Friday's performance was an improvement on his first two matches.
Djokovic says he is 'as young as ever'
Djokovic wasted no time in heaping the pressure on Norrie and broke for a 4-3 lead with a forehand winner before launching the ninth of his 18 aces during the contest in the following game to consolidate his early advantage.
"I think it was probably the best serving performance of the tournament," Djokovic added.
"So of course I'm glad. It's probably one of the most, if not the most important shot in the game. Yeah, I'm glad how I executed that shot."
Djokovic then began to feel the effects of a back problem after going up 5-4 and received treatment off the court before returning to serve out the opening set.
He called for more medical attention three games into the next set and his first-serve speed briefly dipped following that break in play.
However, he started to fire on all cylinders again and went toe-to-toe with Norrie, who had to fight back from a two-point deficit early in the tiebreak to go level in the match.
A sublime drop shot helped Norrie break in the opening game of the third set but Djokovic struck back to win three straight games, pausing along the way to bark at someone in the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands to stay quiet.
Djokovic continued to reassert himself from there, closing out the set comfortably and fully hitting his stride in the fourth to maintain his 100 percent record against Norrie and book a meeting with Jan-Lennard Struff.
"You have some ups and downs. I guess you don't want to reveal too much (about the injury) to the rivals listening and watching," Djokovic added.
"I'm good, man. I'm as young as ever and strong as ever."
Sabalenka gets revenge
Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot against Leylah Fernandez during their third round match at the US Open, 29 August, 2025. Photo: AFP
Aryna Sabalenka got the revenge she craved by defeating Leylah Fernandez 6-3 7-6(2) to erase the sting of her 2021 semi-final upset and keep her dream alive of winning back-to-back Flushing Meadows titles.
The world number one had been waiting four years to settle the score with the Canadian, who stunned her in straight sets en route to the 2021 final in their only previous meeting.
"I really wanted this revenge," three-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka said in her on-court interview after winning the third-round match. "I'm very happy with the win."
The match began ominously for Sabalenka though, as Fernandez earned multiple break points in a marathon opening game on Louis Armstrong Stadium, but the Belarusian's resilience shone through as she saved them all before eventually holding serve.
That early test seemed to settle the 27-year-old, who broke Fernandez's serve in the fourth game of the opening set when her opponent double-faulted on break point.
Sabalenka never looked back, facing only one more break point in the match, which she snuffed out with a service winner.
Still, the second set proved far more competitive, with both players trading holds until the tiebreak, where Sabalenka's experience told as she raced to a 6-1 lead before sealing victory with a forehand winner.
Alcaraz wins, but Raducanu loses
Earlier second seed Carlos Alcaraz dished out another devastating defeat, while 2021 champion Emma Raducanu's run ended in bitter disappointment in the third round.
Alcaraz, the 2022 Flushing Meadows champion who has claimed an ATP-best six titles this season, shook off a right knee problem to brush aside Italy's Luciano Darderi 6-2 6-4 6-0.
The Spaniard took a medical timeout to address the issue in the second set but eased fans' worries as he sprinted through the final set with just two unforced errors to set up a meeting with France's Arthur Rinderknech.
Raducanu has shown signs of improvement this year, reaching the US Open third round for the first time since her 2021 triumph, but it was not enough to get past ninth seed Elena Rybakina, who cruised to a 6-1 6-2 win on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
"It's going to be important to just look at the last few months as a whole, last few weeks as a whole and the improvements that I'm making, because a match like that can easily kind of get you down if you let it," said Raducanu, who had failed to win a match in her last two visits to the hardcourt major.
"So I'm going to try and not do that and regroup."
Rybakina, who triumphed at Wimbledon three years ago, reached the US Open fourth round for the first time and will next play either Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini or Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
Shelton retires hurt
Sixth seed Ben Shelton retired from his third-round meeting with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino before 17th seed Frances Tiafoe was also knocked out in a massive blow to American hopes of ending their 22-year wait for a men's Grand Slam champion.
Shelton grabbed his left shoulder and winced in pain after hitting a forehand early in the fourth set in a tight clash on Louis Armstrong Stadium and pinched at the spot as he prepared to receive a serve from Mannarino in the second game.
Shelton, tipped as a possible contender to become the first American man to prevail at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick's 2003 triumph, looked dejected at the break and shed tears into his towel before he pulled out to gasps from the home crowd.
American fans were left to swallow another bitter pill around an hour later when Tiafoe, who last failed to reach the Flushing Meadows fourth round in 2019, crashed to a 6-4 6-3 7-6(7) defeat by Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff on Grandstand.
- Reuters
