Novak Djokovic advances at U.S. Open after dropping first two sets

As expected, Novak Djokovic dominated Laslo Djere in the third round at the U.S. Open on Friday night.

After Djokovic lost the first two sets by identical scores of 6-4, that is.

Djokovic came back to swamp his fellow Serbian, winning the final three sets while losing only five games in a match that stretched past 1:30 a.m. on Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Djokovic’s 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory kept alive his streak of not losing before the fourth round of a Grand Slam since 2016.

The 36-year-old No. 2 seed moved into the round of 16, where he will face Borna Gojo of Croatia on Sunday.

The last time Djokovic won a U.S. Open match after being down 0-2 was in 2011 against Roger Federer.

Before the match, Djere — a 28-year-old seeded 32nd — told ATPTour.com: “I will try and just prepare as for any other match. I think that’s the key and not to be stressed about who will be my next opponent: the guy who is probably the best of all time. I will really just try to approach it as every other match, as the third round of the U.S. Open. My goal is to go out on the court and fight for every point and play my best tennis. I think that will be the key against Novak.”

Djere and Djokovic are friends. The first time they faced each other in competition was last year, when Djokovic also had a tough time before taking a 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) victory in a best-of-three match at the Serbia Open.

“He’s a very nice guy,” Djokovic said. “Very humble. Just very quiet. Just goes about his things, works as hard as anybody and tries his best. He’s really dedicated to the game. I really like him as a person and as a player as well.”

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.