Amid doubts over the health of his left shoulder, Novak Djokovic withstood a spirited showing from Denis Kudla to reach the fourth round at the US Open.
Djokovic required treatment on his shoulder at several points in his second-round win over Juan Ignacio Londero and doubts over his fitness were not helped by his practice session, which was marked by an apparent argument with a spectator, being delayed by two hours on Friday (August 30).
He refused to be drawn on questions about the injury on his walk from the tunnel, instead providing his answer on the court in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
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Kudla had described playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium under the lights as a "dream come true" and his showing lived up to the occasion.
The American had Djokovic at full stretch at various junctures in a highly entertaining affair, but the World No. 1 and defending champion delivered his best on the key points to book a last-16 clash with Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic had the crowd on their feet in the fourth game as he broke the Kudla serve in stunning fashion, showing off his superb ability to cover the court before winning the point with an exquisite backhand volley.
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That proved enough to take the first set as Djokovic brilliantly saved two break-back points in the seventh game, with Kudla then looping a backhand wide on set point.
Kudla continued to test Djokovic's powers of flexibility but could not break through the Serbian's exceptional defences.
A forehand into the net gave Djokovic the break and a 3-2 lead in the second and, though Kudla played arguably the point of the match with a half-volley to bring up a break chance, he could not take that opportunity or the subsequent one after a Djokovic double fault.
The air was let out of the stadium somewhat as Djokovic clinched the second and he quickly took the crowd out of the contest by breaking Kudla in the first game of the third.
It was far from a perfect performance from Djokovic, who racked up 31 unforced errors and served three double faults in holding for a 2-0 third-set lead.
For all Kudla's efforts, however, he was unable to find a route back into the match and the way in which Djokovic gave the scoreline a comfortable look against an opponent clearly playing at his highest level should give the 16-time Grand Slam champion plenty of satisfaction as he looks to seal a fourth US Open title.
MEDVEDEV WINS DESPITE MELTDOWN
World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev needed three hours and 19 minutes to see off Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, the Russian progressing despite a first-set meltdown.
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Medvedev lost all support from the crowd after he was seen to direct an insulting gesture at them, this after he had been assessed a code violation for snatching a towel from a ball boy, which he reacted to by tossing a racquet in the direction of the umpire's chair.
The Russian revelled in the boos that came after he clinched victory, seemingly enjoying playing the role of villain, telling the crowd their energy will be "enough for the next five matches".
He later described his actions as "heat of the moment" and expressed hope he will deal with such situations better next time. Whether he will have the crowd on side in his match with qualifier Dominik Koepfer, who is set to break into the top 100 after beating 17th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in four sets, is debatable at best.
