NEW YORK _ Novak Djokovic, the U.S. Open's No. 1 seed, finally got to play a complete match, beating Britain's Kyle Edmund, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, in a match that ended just after midnight Monday.
Of some concern was that the state of Djokovic's right arm. A trainer worked on it after the third game of the third set, and it has been worked on in Djokovic's opening match against Jerzy Janowicz, which he won in four sets.
Djokovic said afterward that his arm was fine, and he was happy to finally be playing a match. His second-round opponent, Jiri Vesely, withdrew before the match with arm trouble. Mikhail Youzny, his third round opponent, retired after six games with a hamstring strain. He had a total of just over three hours of court time before Sunday night's match, which lasted just under two hours. He will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a quarterfinal match tonight. "I really wanted to start the match well today because I didn't have much time on the court overall before the fourth round," Djokovic said. "Considering I had some struggles before the tournament I feel great at this moment physically; mentally as well I'm motivated. So coming into the second week of a Grand Slam quarterfinals feeling good, it's exactly where I want to be."
