NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic trailed compatriot Laslo Djere by two sets in the third round, the last time the 36-year-old had rallied from tennis' outback at the US Open was in 2011.
There were seismic waves and warning signals going around New York before the battling Serb turned it around. It started with a talk to himself.
"I did a little pep talk in the mirror. I kind of laughed at myself because I was so p****d off and annoyed," said Djokovic, who took a bathroom break after the second set. "I had to lift myself up, lift my spirits up a little bit. I've done it a few times before in my career, it worked. A few times it didn't work, but tonight it did and I'm grateful."
Djokovic broke the powerful Djere for the first time at 0-1 in the third set - the second seed played the wall in a 26-ball rally and Djere erred with his forehand. Djokovic had finally opened the door to the match which he won 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in 3 hours and 45-minutes.
Djokovic plays qualifier Borna Gojo of Croatia in the fourth round.
Bopanna-Ebden pair enters third round
India's Rohan Bopanna and Aussie Mathew Ebden, the sixth seeds in the men's doubles of the US Open, beat Kazakh Andrey Golubev and Russian Roman Safiullin to make the third round.
Bopanna and Ebden, who haven't faced breakpoints so far in the tournament, came through 6-3, 6-3 in 64 minutes. Golubev was broken in the eighth game of the opening set and Bopanna put the team ahead by serving out the set. A decisive break in the second did the job for the sixth seeds.
In the third round, Bopanna and Ebden take on the British pair of Julian Cash and Henry Patten.
